


The Long Way Down

by lexitehrexi



Category: No Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-28
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2018-04-28 14:38:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 37,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5094416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lexitehrexi/pseuds/lexitehrexi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"When the Union of Nion is threatened with the Rebellions search for the other half of the key to the Underworld, a group of misfits rise to the occasion to save their world from absolute chaos."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The sun was high and was heating up the market district of Nion. Smells of delicious foods and candles filled the air. People of all sorts were busy buying all kinds of ingredients as well as fireworks. Today was the anniversary of the founding of the Union of Nion; one of the most beloved holidays of all. As tradition would hold, the main course for dinner would be any and all sorts of meats paired with potatoes, fruits, and vegetables. Afterward, everyone would gather in front of the capital and light off fireworks. The night sky would fill up with all the colors of the rainbow in brilliant shows of celebration. The Queen would be celebrating among the citizens, not having a care in the world, for just one night.

 

The sound of a man yelling pierced the crowded street. It was already loud, as it was noon on a Friday, but even the man yelling got quite of few heads to turn to see what all the commotion was. Two teenage boys ran as fast as they could, a big angry man trailing close behind like an angry bull at a matador. They rounded a corner and picked up their speed. They looked behind them to see if the man had lost any momentum. But, much to their displeasure, he had not.

 

"Zach! I told you not to threaten him. I tell you every time to wait for me to give the signal if we need your so called 'brawn'," Sam said in between breaths. He really needed to get in shape if all of their scams were going to end like this.

 

Zach sprinted right beside him without even breaking a sweat. Zach only offered a slight shrug and mouthed, "Sorry."

 

They rounded another corner and jumped into some bushes. They steadied themselves and remained silent. Sam leaned forward a bit to listen for their pursuer. The man ran past their hiding place, and they both let out an overdue sigh of relief.

 

"Sam, I totally could have taken him. You have to trust me, you twat," Zach smacked Sam in the stomach and peeked out of the bushes wearily.

  
Sam rolled his eyes and stood to climb out of the bushes. Brushing off the leaves, he held out a hand to help his overconfident friend and partner in crime out of the bush. A few confused passersby’s looked at them and continued on their way.

 

"So what do you propose we do now that we can't go back to that spot again? We're running out of places where people don't know our faces by now," Sam said. "If we're caught one more time, we're just gonna have to give this up and get real jobs." He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. A real job? Really? Out of the question. If he could make easy money by doing absolutely nothing, Sam would find that job.

 

They began to walk back towards where they came from, to their little cart they had set up to sell their "authentic" jewelry, art pieces, weapons, and such. They sold anything and everything that could be written off as antique or original. Sure, it wasn't a nice thing to do, but it made good money. Some of the things were legit, sure, but why waste money on actual artifacts when you can just make them in your basement.

 

They walked up to their cart, which they had left in complete disarray. The man had figured out that the vase he had bought for his wife was a fake and came back to get his money. Of course, "All purchases were final. And no, sir, no exchanges. We're sorry you feel like you've been scammed, but I can assure you, that piece is 100% real." The man began to raise his voice and Zach threatened to lay him out right there in the street. Usually it was a simple fix of them just taking off. No problem. But this time the person Zach threatened happened to be the head of the royal guard, who is in fact, loaded to the brim with muscle and can run for ‘literally 100 years’ without breaking a sweat. He grabbed the cart and knocked it over to get to Zach and Sam, which is when they took off running to their bush.

 

"Wow, all our stuff is broken. So, that's cool, I guess," Sam sighed as he began to pick up the pieces of broken wood and crafts.

  
Zach sighed, "Sorry," and began to help him pick up their things. They loaded whatever was salvageable in the cart and started wheeling it back to their house which was a 20 minute walk, especially with the holiday crowds. The cart's left wheel was slightly broken, so the cart would lean to the left every so often which made it more difficult to wheel home.

 

The walk home was quiet, as expected. Sam was mad. Zach was guilty. The cart was broken. Sam weaved the cart through the traffic as Zach trailed behind him, arms crossed behind his neck, slightly day dreaming about dinner. As he was drifting in and out of daydreams, Zach felt someone grab his hip aggressively and felt his knife hilt latch off of him. He turned to see who was taking his knife, but he didn't see anything besides a blur of black, and then nothing.

 

"Yo, what the fuck! Sam! Someone just took my knife!" Zach swore to himself and began to run towards the direction he saw the blur go, but something stopped him. He looked to see Sam's hand on his shoulder with the most irritated look on his face. "Dude, we have to go get whoever took my knife! That thing is priceless." Zach smacked Sam's off him.

 

"We need to get home. The longer we're out in the open, the higher the chances of that guy finding us. We can look for your knife tomorrow, I promise. But for now, it's whatever," Sam said and turned back to the cart, continuing to walk.

 

Zach looked back into the direction the blur with and shook his head. He turned to follow Sam, sulking every step of the way. Whoever took his knife was going to get their ass beat once he found out who did it.

 

The sun beat down on them as they made their way onto their road. The cart just barely made it into their front yard before collapsing, spilling the contents onto the grass. Sam swore under his breath as he began to pick up things and bring them into the house. Zach stared at the cart, thinking about who took his knife.

 

"Are you just gonna space out thinking about your dumb knife or are you gonna help me?" Zach snapped his gaze from the cart to Sam.

  
"Fuck you, I love that knife. I got it from a cute girl when I moved here. You can do this shit by yourself," Zach stormed off into the house. Sam could hear him slam his door. Why do I live with an actual 10 year old, Sam thought.

 

Once all the things from the cart were back in the basement, Sam went to work putting things back together and resembling. He thought about other potential spots for them to set up their shop, and how he could get Zach to stop getting as aggressive so quickly. Maybe he needed to bribe Zach with more money. Nah, something else. Sam was interrupted by his stomach rumbling. He and Zach hadn't eaten all day, so he assumed his friend would also start to get hungry.

 

Sam headed up stairs and into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and scanned it for ideas of what to make. He could be cliché and make what everyone else was making today. Or he could be an ass and just make a sandwich for himself and leave Zach to his own activities. But Sam was actually hungry for a meal, so he decided to make a pot roast with vegetables. Hopefully food would make Zach less pissy.

 

 

Zach laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Why was Sam being such a dick about his knife? Like, yeah, he knew it was only a knife, but sometimes material things held a lot of significance to someone. The girl who had given it to him had beautiful long reddish-brown hair and had brilliant brown eyes. She lived in a city outside Nion and ran a store/armory with her family. She had given the knife to Zach because she felt like he would need it someday. Zach couldn't do what he needed to do with it if he didn't have it.

 

He turned on his side and stared out the window. He didn't realize how much time had passed since him and Sam had gotten home. The sun had begun to set. He heard Sam come up from the basement and move things around in the kitchen. Zach sat up and walked over to his bedroom door and quietly opened it. Sam was hard at work cutting carrots for what seemed like a roast of some sort.

 

"Buh you making roast since it's a holiday or whatever?" Zach said gleefully, completely forgetting his anger. Sam nodded without looking at him.

  
He entered the kitchen and watched as Sam continued to cut carrots. Zach looked into the crock pot and smiled. He fucking loved roast. "Can I help with anything?" He looked at Sam for some kind of instruction.

 

"Peel the potatoes." Sam said, still not looking up from his carrots. Zach walked over to the pantry and grabbed a few and washed them. He pulled out the peeler and began peeling them. They prepared dinner in silence, which was typical. They finished each of their tasks around the same time and loaded the vegetables into the crock pot. Sam set the timer for an hour and walked into his study. Zach was left alone once again. He walked over to the door of Sam's study and peeked in. Sam wasn't doing anything really, just on his laptop, browsing what seemed to be some kind of buy and sell website. Of course, Zach rolled his eyes.

 

He made his way out to the living room and sat down on the couch and turned on the TV and Xbox, and started some car game Sam had bought recently. This would kill time until the roast was ready. He started it up and selected campaign mode. It was easy at first; simple races and time trials, no sweat. But it began to get increasingly harder, and as it got harder, Zach began to get louder.

 

"What the fuck, I was totally in first. This is such bullshit." Zach continued to cuss as he played the game. Why did it randomly get so much harder?

  
Sam got up from his desk and closed his study door, letting Zach's cries fall on deaf ears. He sat back down and continued to browse the internet. He needed to find a good blacksmith to fix some of the weapons that had been damaged during the fiasco earlier and see if they could keep an eye out for Zach's precious knife. He stumbled upon an ad on the Nion Public Forum for a place called Fitz' Fixes. Clever name. He would have to drop by there tomorrow and see if the guy would be of any help.

 

The buzzer for the roast began to fill the entire house with its annoying chatter. Sam hopped up from his chair and exited his study to find Zach already taking some of the roast. He handed Sam a plate and fork as he went to go sit down at the bar. Sam wafted the smell of the roast towards him. He didn't cook, but when he did, it was fucking awesome. He took a huge piece of roast and some potatoes and carrots and sat beside Zach, who was practically inhaling his food.

 

"This is so good, thanks man. And sorry about earlier, it's just this knife is like special, ya know? I really hope we can find it," Zach said in between mouthfuls. Well, even with mouthfuls, he spoke. Sam nodded as he took bites. The roast was super tender and the potatoes and carrots were extremely soft. They both were definitely going to have seconds.

 

After they finished their meal, Zach did the dishes and they both headed to their rooms for bed. They could go out and light off some fireworks like the rest of the city, but they both were extremely beat and tired.

 

Sam walked up to Zach's room and knocked. He heard a muffled, "Come in." Sam opened the door to find a curled up Zach in a blanket. Zach looked up from his TV to give Sam his attention.

 

"I'm gonna be going over to a black smith tomorrow to see if he can fix the weapons that that guy broke today. I don't know if you were wanting to come with or if you had plans, I just wanted to let you know what I was doing. Anyway, night." Sam waved a little wave at Zach and walked off to shower.

After his shower, Sam changed in his pajamas and climbed into bed. He stared at his clock. 11:04 PM reflected onto his face. He could see the fireworks show from his window, even with the curtains drawn. With sounds of fireworks coming a few miles away, he rolled over and began to drift off to sleep.  He hoped tomorrow would be more chill, but of course, it wasn't going to be.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Light poured in through the windows and the skylight in Sam's room. Birds chirping outside as well as the dull roar of people coming to life filled the room softly.

 

Sam turned over and rubbed his eyes, and looked at the clock. 8:24 AM. It felt like he didn't sleep at all. And it probably didn't help that he was waking up every few hours for no reason at all.

  
He sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed. As he stood, he stretched a little bit and made his way over to his dresser to pick out his clothes for the day. It was nearing the end of spring, so maybe khaki pants and a long sleeve shirt under a short sleeve shirt. Yes. It was perfect.

 

He slipped on his shirts and pants and walked into his bathroom. He began to brush his teeth and gelled his hair into spikes afterwards. He heard movement coming from Zach's room, which was surprising considering it was nearing almost 9 AM. His usual time of waking up was more like 11.

 

He walked through his room and towards Zach's bedroom door and knocked lightly. He heard a soft "Yeah?" and entered the room.

 

"I'm gonna take some of the guns and daggers that were in the cart yesterday and bring them over to that blacksmith to see if he can salvage them. We're you wanting to come with or what?" Sam crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, waiting for a sleepy Zach to reply. Zach rubbed his face and looked at his phone.

 

"It's only 9? Uh. I think I'll hang here for a while. I'll meet up with you later or something." He said muffled, digging his face back into his pillow. 2

 

"Aight." Sam pushed off the wall and walked out of his room, and shut the door. He walked down the stairs into their basement and searched for a bag that could carry all of their goods but also conceal them all. Didn't need anyone trying to take it from him like that person took Zach's knife.

 

He found a black back pack under the stairs and dusted it off. That should work. He started to stuff the bag with various weapons. Hopefully this Fitz guy could fix them. Sam said his goodbye to a sleeping Zach and headed out the door.

 

*

 

It was only 9:15 AM and it was already getting super warm outside. Maybe the layers wasn't the best idea, but it was too late to turn back now.

 

Sam made his way down his street and turned onto the main road towards the end of the market district. It was about a 20 minute walk to Fitz' Fixes. A little exercise never killed anybody. He kept his head down and walked briskly, he didn't want anyone to recognize him from the day before since he had to walk through the same plaza to get to the shop.

 

He passed many shops on the way there. He gave each of the windows a look see, scanning the insides for things that looked valuable, maybe him and Zach could take a crack at replicating them. He spotted a nice looking flower pot in a flower shop, a beautiful painting of a woman jumping down a water fall, and a cool looking wooden statue at the wood maker's wood shop. All things that would definitely keep them busy tonight making.

 

He made his way up the blacksmith's shop. He walked into the building, and looked around. There were a few people in the shop, browsing the wares that were kept. They sold sword hilts, bows, arrows, swords, guns, anything, you name it. There was also a training center alongside the shop for anyone that would like to train with their weapons that they bought or had just had fixed. Maybe he and Zach should take some classes there so they could at least try to defend themselves whenever they were in a jam, and not just haul ass out of there.

 

Sam waited near the front counter for someone to help him and his broken things. He observed the other people in the store. There were only two other people in the store. A man that was about 5"6' with shaggy light brown hair that looked had a "holier than thou" look to him admiring the swords. The other man was quite a few inches taller than him with brown hair that made him look like a stereotypical husband from the 1950s. He was looking at a few potion and scroll holders.

 

Sam's thoughts were interrupted by a short man with a beard that looked like fire saying "Welcome to Fitz' Fixes. Can I be of any assistance?" Sam put the back pack on the counter and unzipped it and opened towards the man.

 

"I, uh, need these to be fixed up, if you could do that. I ran into some trouble and these were beat up quite a bit. Hope it's not too much trouble..." Sam trailed off. The shop wasn't too close to their carts place yesterday, but he was hoping that the man wouldn't recognize him. The man looked at the daggers and guns and eyed Sam carefully. Sam felt the temperature rising and rising. Oh Christ was he going to have to scurry out of here like a dog with its tail in-between its legs? The man cleared his throat and spoke.

 

"This shouldn't be a problem. It's just matter of how much you're willing to spend on fixing them up. This gun in particular," He held up a plasma revolver. "Is actually quite high tech, so I might have to have someone come in and help me fix it. But other than that, it shouldn't be more than 500 gold pieces. That sound good?" He looked to Sam.

 

"Christ..." Sam said under his breath. Hopefully they could sell them for more than that they were getting fixed up. They would be in better condition than they got them in. He looked up to the man.

 

"Yeah that should be fine. Should I like wait here or would you like me to like come back in a few hours?" He hoped it wouldn't take all day, it would be nice to be able to try to sell a little bit today. He handed the bag over to the man and pulled out his coin bag. He placed his gold pieces onto the counter.

 

"It should only be an hour. By the way, the name is Fitz. Stephen is actually my name but Fitz sounds way cooler." He extended his hand towards Sam. Sam shook his hand and nodded.

 

"Sam. Anyway, I guess I'll be back in an hour. Uh, see ya." Sam waved awkwardly and walked out of the store. Alright. One hour to kill. He walked back towards the stores he had passed on the way there. He needed to get a better look at the things he wanted to replicate. He first walked into the flower shop and looked at all the flower pots. He noted the details that went into the shape of the pots and made his way into the next shop, an art store run by a tall man with a thick brown beard. He was working on a sketch of a girl at a desk, not even noticing Sam's presence.

 

Sam browsed the paintings, sketches, and portraits. He happened to walk over to the painting he saw earlier of the woman and the waterfall. He really liked this picture. He could buy it and then rack up the price even more, or he could just try to remake it himself. Eh, painting wasn't his forte. He would need to talk to Zach and see if it was worth buying or if there were anything else that would sell better. Sam felt his pocket buzz. He pulled out his phone. Speaking of the devil. He held up his phone to his ear.

 

"Hey. What's up Zach?"

 

"Sam, where you at?"

 

"I'm at an art shop near the blacksmith where I took our stuff. Why?"

 

"I'm headed right over."

 

*Click*

 

Sigh. Well it was better than trying to drag him to the art store later. He put his phone back in his pocket and looked around the store a bit more. The man at the desk had finally noticed him and sprang from his seat.

 

"Hello! Name's Thor and this is my art shop. Please, if you have any questions or are interested in anything, let me know!" He smiled and returned to his desk to continue sketching. Thank god he didn't hover like other shop keepers did. Sam stayed near the front of the store so Zach could spot him when he arrived.

 

About 10 minutes passed when Zach sauntered into the shop, loud music blaring from his headphones. He spotted Sam instantly and came up to him and slapped his ass. Sam smacked his hand away.

 

"God why are you like this?" Sam said, clearly irritated. Zach just cheekily stuck out his tongue and began to look around. Sam walked with him, nudging him to look at certain pieces, signaling that it was a potential piece that they could buy and resale. The man at the desk narrowed his eyes at them as they walked around. Sam noticed this and immediately made his way to the door. Zach followed in suit, none the wiser. They walked into the wood maker's shop.

 

"Why did we leave that store so soon? I was enjoying myself." Zach asked Sam as they were looking at some cool looking wooden statues.

 

"I think he was on to us. I noticed he had been eyeing us for a while so I wanted to leave before things got dicey." Sam explained as he picked up a little keychain. Zach nodded as he pocketed some of the key chains while the wood maker wasn't looking. Sam rolled his eyes and looked at his phone for the time.

 

"Okay I think it's good to start to head back over there." He and Zach headed for the door and made their way back over to the blacksmiths. They walked a little bit faster in front of the art shop just so the man inside wouldn't notice them and slipped into Fitz' Fixes. A girl was at the counter, she was putting the finishing touches on their plasma revolver, when she looked up and smiled.

 

"Hello, welcome to Fitz' Fixes, I'm Alexis. Stephen is currently out. Anything I can do to help?" She smiled sweetly at the boys.

 

"Yeah I'm just here to pick up my weapons. Fitz told me it would only take an hour to have them fixed up. That revolver is actually one of mine. Are they done?" He cut right to the chase. He really wanted to try to get these off their hands. She picked up his back pack from behind the counter and placed the revolver in the bag.

 

"Yup! Here you go... Sam? Right? He actually finished all of them in about 30 minutes. He's super good at what he does." She smiled again. "Is there anything else you need help with or are you good to go?"

 

"Yeah that's me and nah, I think that's everything." He replied.

 

"Alright, well have a great rest of your day, please do come again if you need some help making your weapons all nice and sharp." She waved and began to walk away, but stopped and turned back to them.

 

"Oh! And if you need any training, I run the training center right next store. Since you've already spent so much here, please feel free to come in for a free session anytime!" She waved again and walked into a connected hallway with her training center. Sam and Zach nodded in agreement that they would take up her offer sometime. They loaded up their bag and headed outside.

 

"So I definitely think we should go back into that art shop and buy one of the paintings. His skills were really good so I think he might be a good place to get some of our "authentic" paintings from the olden times." Sam said, leaning against a tree outside the art shop. Zach nodded whilst looking at his phone.

 

"Which one were you thinking?" He asked, not looking up.

 

"I liked the girl jumping in the waterfall. Can we agree on that one?" Sam asked. Zach nodded once again.

 

Sam looked at passerby's for a while, thinking of something to tell the artist in case he was suspicious of who they were. Whilst people watching, he saw Alexis leave her training center and walk up to a few of the royal guards and stroll towards a little housing area nearby. Then, he saw Fitz come out of the art shop, a little painting in his hand as he passed his shop and headed for the same direction Alexis had gone. He nudged Zach and pointed his head towards the art shop.

 

"Now or never kid." Sam said. Zach nodded and took his head phones out of his ears and headed towards the art shop. They strolled in as nonchalantly as they could. The man, Thor, was talking with a woman in a white lacy dress that looked as if she had something to hide. A white veil covered her entire head and her face. Thor was beaming while talking to her, which fell a bit when he noticed Sam and Zach reentering his store. He said something to the woman and made his way over to them.

 

"Hey guys, back again? Anything in particular I can help you with?" There was tension in his voice, Sam picked up on that much. Sam motioned to the painting.

 

"Yeah, we're interested in that painting. How much?"

 

"It's gonna be about 250 pieces." He said, crossing his arms. Sam sighed. Well they could at least sell it for double. 250 isn't a bad profit. Not the best, but not bad. Sam stroked his chin to make himself seem like he really had to wrestle with himself to buy it. Thor didn't really seem to care.

 

"Alright that's fine." Sam pulled out his coin bag, began to sift through it for the money. Thor lightly but firmly grabbed his shoulder and leaned in to whisper something to him.

 

"Hey, I know what you guys are. I'm not gonna say anything to my friends over there," He motioned to a few royal guards that were hanging out near the woman with the veil, whom he and Zach didn't even notice, "But I swear if I see this piece at one of your little "Authentic" cart shops, you will have hell to pay. Capiche?" Zach glared him. Sam was about to tell him to chill when Zach cut him off.

 

"You did not just threaten us." Before Thor had time to respond, Zach's fist connected with the side of his face. Thor fell back a bit before he launched himself at Zach. Zach fell backwards out of the store's front door as Thor threw a punch back at him. Zach fell onto his back as he punched Thor in the throat. Thor began to choke and cough profusely. Sam ran outside after them. As he tried to pick Thor off of Zach, Thor elbowed Sam in the gut. He fell to the ground and tried to reach for Thor but was pulled back by a royal guard, as well as the others. All were cuffed in less than 10 seconds flat.

 

Zach and Sam squirmed for their lives, they couldn't afford to go to jail. They would be recognized by the head of the royal guard and be in there for at least a year.

 

Thor helplessly looked around for someone. He swore under his breath and just stood still in the guards hold. Wasn't much he could do at this point.

 

"I will not tolerate such violence, guards please escort them to the castle. I will personally deal with them and their consequences."

 

Zach and Sam looked at each other confused at whose voice that was. The woman that was in the concealed lacy white dress stepped out of the store and removed her veil. Well fuck.


	3. Chapter 3

The morning wasn't going as planned. Stephen was running late, and of course it was on the day he was opening his store. If Alexis was opening the store it wouldn't matter if he was late or not, but alas, that was not what was happening.

He quickly put on pants, wiggled into a tee shirt, and hurried out the door. At least Fitz' Fixes was just down the street.

He scurried up to the door and unlocked it, slipping inside. He flipped on the open sign and the lights for the store as walked behind the counter to set down his bag. He looked at the clock on the wall behind him. 9:15 AM. Okay, cool. Only 15 minutes off schedule. Not too bad. He exhaled a sigh of relief but straightened up when the chime of the front door sounded. Two men walked inside.

"Welcome to Fitz' Fixes! Anything I can help you with?" Stephen asked the men. They smiled and murmured their "No, we're fine." He took this opportunity and headed into the warehouse to work on anything that was left from the night before. He picked up a few daggers from the work bench and began sharpening them and then polishing them. Sometimes things like this could be tedious, but it was a super fun trade and paid extremely well.

  
He had finished up on the last dagger when he heard the door chime. He rested the dagger on the work bench once more and made his way back into the main store. A tall man with spiked brown hair and a black back pack stood at the counter, looking around, waiting for assistance. Stephen hurried up and cleared his throat.

  
"Welcome to Fitz' Fixes. Can I be of any assistance?" The man put his bag on the counter and opened it towards him. There were an assortment of daggers and guns in the bag.

  
"I, uh, need these to be fixed up, if you could do that. I ran into some trouble and these were beat up quite a bit. Hope it's not too much trouble..." The man said nervously, looking away. Stephen eyed the man carefully. He looked familiar, but he wasn't sure where from. Stephen sifted through the bag. A plasma revolver caught his eye. He held it up and looked it over carefully.

"This shouldn't be a problem. It's just matter of how much you're willing to spend on fixing them up. This gun in particular," Stephen held up the plasma revolver. "Is actually quite high tech, so I might have to have someone come in and help me fix it. But other than that, it shouldn't be more than 500 gold pieces. That sound good?" Stephen dragged his eyes away from the revolver to look at the man. He swore under his breath and nodded.

"Yeah that should be fine. Should I like wait here or would you like me to like come back in a few hours?" He asked as he pulled out his coin bag. He counted out the pieces and lightly pushed them towards Stephen.

"It should only be an hour. By the way, the name is Fitz. Stephen is actually my name but Fitz sounds way cooler." He put the gold pieces away into his own bag and extended his hand to the man. He looked at Stephens hand confused momentarily but shook it.

"Sam. Anyway, I guess I'll be back in an hour. Uh, see ya." Sam waved awkwardly and walked out of the store. Stephen watched him turn left and then he was out of sight. Stephen looked back to the bag and picked it up, heading towards the warehouse and went right to work fixing up Sam's items. He put the revolver to the side since Alexis would probably have a better time fixing it than he would.

  
Alexis was the co-owner of Fitz' Fixes, as well as his friend. She owned the building next door which was a training center for people of all ages, and also helped whenever she could here. She specialized in hybrid weapons like the plasma revolver. She should be here by now, thought Stephen as he worked on the daggers. He heard the front door chime. He was about to get up when he heard walking down the hallway.

  
Alexis strode into the warehouse and set her bag down and walked up to Stephen, peeking over his shoulder to see what he was doing.

  
"What're you working on Mr. I'm always late opening my own store?" She teased. She immediately looked at the revolver and smiled devilishly. She picked it up and looked it over.  
"Holy shit this thing is beat to hell. Where'd you get it?" She sat down at the work bench next to his and went to work.

  
"A guy came in with tons of beat up weapons asking me to fix them all up. I think he's one of those scammer guys that have been floating around town. He seemed nervous, as expected." Stephen replied as he sharpened a dagger. They worked in silence save the noise that was made by the blade sharpener.

  
They worked on the tools for about 30 minutes and put the tools back into the back pack the man had brought. They walked out into the front of the store and put the bag right behind the counter so it was easy to find when the man came back in to pick them up.

  
"Hey I had a few errands to run, do you mind watching the store?" Stephen asked, walking towards the door without even getting a confirmation. Alexis rolled her eyes.

  
"Yeah sure whatever. See ya." She waved to him as he walked out. She pulled out some more tools to work on the revolver while she waited for Stephens return. This was actually a challenge for her and she loved it. She was going to need some extra materials to smooth out the trigger, and lucky for her, they kept extra materials of all sorts lying around the front of the shop (For customers, and themselves.) With revolver in hand, Alexis made her way back to the store front and refiled through the bins. She was focusing so hard on the gun and finding materials to fix it that she didn't hear the man in front of her ask her a question. She looked up and yelped.

  
"Oh wow sorry, I was too busy focusing I didn't realize you were right in front of me. What can I help you with?" She said with a nervous laugh. She spooked way too easily. The man rolled his eyes, which Alexis noted.

"Uh alright... I just wanted to buy this sword... If that's not too scary for you." He said as he placed the short sword onto the counter. His tone was snobbish and condescending.

The sword was worth about 750. But since he was being a dick, well, the price was now 850.  
"850 gold pieces please." Alexis gave the sweetest smile. The man sighed and pulled out the pieces and placed them on the counter with attitude. She handed him the sword and waved him off. Heh, sucker. She placed the pieces into a bag and put it in a safe in the warehouse office.

She hurried back to her work bench and continued her work on the gun and spaced out. Some of her friends were supposed to come over after their shift ended for the royal guard. It was funny, she used to be a royal guard too, like all her friends, but due to an unfortunate knee injury, she was released. Since she knew how to fight and defend herself, she decided to open up her training center to help anyone that needed to go outside the city walls.

There wasn't always a city wall. Long ago before the queen, or even the Queen’s parents, ruled, there wasn't even a wall. The Union of Nion was but just a simple colony. About 1000 years ago, there was The Great Quake. It killed most of the life on earth except a few hundred humans. The continents shifted and formed a new layout of the land. People caravanned all the way to where the Union of Nion stood now and set up camp permanently.

Over the years they began to build the city. A lot of the technology that they had had in the early 2000's had been wiped out, but thankfully with the willpower and team work of the last of the humans, they were able to build new things and continue on life and civilization. They adopted a lot of old ways of life such as having market places, using gold again instead of paper money (Even though the extremely rich still used it.), and having a king and queen of the land purely for the simplicity.

Alexis wondered what life was like before The Great Quake. If it was really differently than what they we're living like now. Her thought process what interrupted by more customers entering the store, asking her if she could help them find some good swords and guns for a trip a few miles out of the city. She smiled and quickly began to educate them on the many types of swords that they had available.

**

Stephen made his way into an art shop and few stores down from his shop. There was only a few people inside. A woman in a white lacy dress and a veil was standing near two royal guards, chatting with them quietly, and a man talking with another woman about a piece he was working on. Stephen browsed some small paintings and looked for one he could give to Alexis for a thank you gift.  Alexis had been working extra hard lately making sure the store looked and ran well. They were all so beautiful looking and wasn't sure which one she would like best.

  
"Hey, welcome to my art shop. Name's Thor. Anything I can help you find?" A tall man with a big brown beard appeared aside him, smiling.

  
"Hey, name's Fitz. Uh, I'm just looking for a cool and small picture to give to my friend for helping me out at our store. Like a thank you present." Stephen pointed at the smaller pictures and named a few things Alexis liked. Thor nodded and thought about what he had in store and sifted through a few paintings he had just did the day prior. He pulled out a painting of a rainy lamppost surrounded by lavender bushes and puddles. Stephen's eyes widened. Thor handed him the painting for him to look it over. Stephen's mouth slowly began to form a smile and he looked up at Thor with childlike joy.

"She'll love it, how much?" Stephen said, patting himself down in search of his coin bag. Thor smiled and grabbed a bag from behind his small counter and placed the painting in it.

"It's usually supposed to be like 500 but your giddiness is making me super happy so how about 250?" Thor handed him the bag and leaned against the painting racks. Stephen smiled even bigger and gave him the gold pieces.

"Really? Wow thanks. I'll give you 300 and call it good. Don't want to cheat you out of your money but will still accept the discounted price. That sound good?" Thor nodded in agreement and put the pieces into his own bag. They shook hands and said their goodbyes.

"Come in again if you need another present or just want to chat." Thor said as he went to sit at his desk.

"Will do. Come by my shop anytime if you need a quick fix on anything!" Stephen waved back. He felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out. He had a text from Alexis.

"Hey, Tristan and Joey are at the store right now. Workin on a few things for us to lighten the load. I'm headed home to my house now cause some of the girls are supposed to come over for lunch. See you whenever."

He replied that he was on his way over now for lunch also, since he had forgotten to eat this morning. He walked out of the store and headed towards Alexis’ house. He looked over at a little garden in front of the art shop and saw Sam standing with a man looking at his phone. They looked like they were walking about something serious. Stephen continued on his way towards home. He passed in front of his store and headed down an adjacent street.

Alexis' house was blue and small, with a little garden outside of it. Stephen lived right next door, conveniently enough. He walked into the front door to be greeted by Alexis and a few girls in royal guard uniforms on the couch laughing and talking amongst each other. He set his bag the ground near the front door and walked into the living room and sat down with them.

"Hey guys, what's up?" He asked them. There were three of Alexis' old royal guard friends here. Alyssa, the tallest of the three, had long curly brown hair with blond under streaks. Tara sat next to Alyssa on the couch. She had long ginger hair and piercing blue eyes that could kill anyone, almost. And the third was a shorter girl named Megan who had light brown hair and the cutest smile ever. They all turned to Stephen, just now noticing him.

"Oh just talking about what's been going on since I left." Alexis replied as she got up from her spot to rummage through the fridge.

"Nothing really has happened. I mean the patrols have tightened a bit but that's because the Queen has been paranoid about her brother trying to come back for the other half of the key but nothing else really." Alyssa spoke. Tara's chest tightened after the last part of her sentence. Alyssa looked to Tara confused.

"What?" Alyssa asked.

"I mean I know it's just Alexis and Stephen but we really shouldn't be talking about the key willy nilly..." Tara replied. She fidgeted with the ends of her hair, picking at split ends nervously.

"What key?" Stephen inquired. It sounded interesting as hell. Tara looked at Alyssa and sighed. She motioned for Alyssa to continue her story.

"So the Kings and Queens of the Union of Nion are actually guards as well. Under the thrones, there are trap doors that lead down into a restricted part of the castle where two parts of a key are held. Once combined, the keys form the portal to the Underworld," Alyssa paused for Alexis and Stephen to let this information to sink in. She shifted in her seat and continued. "And when Cassius killed his parents, he also took one of the keys. And someday he is going to have to come back so he can have the other half."

"How come I didn't know this when I was on the force?" Alexis asked. She shut the fridge, putting a bag of cheese and tortillas on the counter, making some quesadillas.

"We actually didn't find out until after you left. Anyways, now the Queen wants to actually take the key somewhere. Like out of the city. So incase Cassius tries anything else, it won't be here."

"The Queen can't leave the city, that'll make so many people uneasy..." Stephen chimed in.

"The Queen wouldn't be the one taking it, dumbass." Tara said. "She wants to put together a group of like low profile people to take it to World's End so they can drop it in. The lava at the bottom will insure its destruction." The group listened to her words. Everyone thought about the journey that would encounter to World's End.

World's End was the only remaining volcano on the planet, or at least known volcano. It was a long trek up and through many caverns to reach the middle of it. Inside, there was a small cliff that lead out into the middle of the cave and there was a straight shot down into searing hot lava.

"If you're looking for people to join the group to do this quest, Alexis and I are totally up for it." Stephen said jokingly. He began to giggle but that soon dissipated when he realized no one else was laughing.

"W-what?" He looked around the room.

"That's not a bad idea actually. I mean the journey is going to need experienced people with fighting and people who know how to fix weapons." Megan spoke for the first time. Alexis glared at Stephen from the kitchen, causing him to sweat nervously.

"N-now guys, I'm sure there are more qualified people..." Alexis stammered. No way. Uh-huh. They were definitely not cut out for this kind of thing. They were both too soft. Yeah they knew how to fight, but neither of them had ever killed anybody.

"It'll pay well, we guarantee it. You can open a bigger store and open a bigger training center, and buy a bigger house." Megan said to them.

"We're down." Stephen felt himself say. Alexis stopped what she was doing and put her hands on her hips, and gaped at Stephen.

"W-what? Are you serious?" She pleaded, walking back into the living room.

"Why not? It'll help both of us get into a better situation and it will be an awesome journey. One to tell people for the rest of our lives. ‘Oh yeah we took the other half of the underworld key and destroyed it.’ We'll be heroes!" He said excitedly. Alexis looked up at the ceiling, her mind running at least 1233453 miles per hour. Could they do it? Could they really? Alexis turned to her friends.

"Would it be just us or are there others?" She asked, folding her arms and leaning against the fireplace.

"There will be others. Just have to find them first. So. Does that mean you're in?" Alyssa asked, her smile beginning to form. Hey if anyone was to go and be successful, it was Alexis and Stephen.

Alexis looked from Alyssa, to Tara, To Megan, To Stephen, then out the window. She knew she would regret not going if she turned it down. She sighed and shook her head.

"Why the hell not. Let's save the world."

 


	4. Chapter 4

They talked with the girls some more and had lunch. Stephen walked over to his house to pack, as Alexis packed up her things at her house. It was about a 30 minute walk from Alexis and Stephens neighborhood, but luckily they were near a royal guard outpost. There were hover cars there so they could just take those.

The walk to the outpost took about 10 minutes. They arrived to a white bricked building with a big garage like door in the front with a smaller door next to it. Alyssa told them to sit tight as she and the other guards walked inside to fetch a car. The sun was almost directly above them, so it was probably almost noon. Alexis walked over to the door and peaked in. It looked like just a regular office. Nothing out of the ordinary. There was a door towards the end of the room, which was where her friends had disappeared. Stephen turned to Alexis to ask where her friends were when the garaged door begin to lift and slide open.

A white rounded car with clear windows with a purple tint floated out. It reminded Alexis more of a pod than a car. A side door popped out a few inches and slid open, Megan peeked out and motioned them to enter the car. Stephen and Alexis ducked into the car and picked a seat. The seats were located on the sides of the car rather than the typical way seats were lain. There was a control panel at the front of the car with a seat facing outwards rather than inwards for the driver of the vehicle.

"Everyone buckled in?" Alyssa asked. Everyone clicked their seat belts in and they began to pull out into the street so the garage door could close. Once it was closed, Alyssa pressed a big button and the car began to float upwards. They were about 20 feet in the air before they took off towards the castle. Alexis and Stephen looked out the window at all the houses and buildings below. The people looked like ants. It was a truly amazing sight.

**

They soon stopped passing over buildings that looked like their neighborhood and began hovering over the richer areas that were closer to the castle. There were little lakes and ponds as well as huge gardens in their portion of the Union. Soon it turned into all some kind of fancy looking rock roads and they neared the castle. The castle was big, big enough that they could still see it from their house, but in person... Wow, it was big.

The car began to descend into what looked like a small road way towards the side of the castle. They lowered at an almost alarming rate so Alexis and Stephen braced for impact, their friends giggling at them. They entered a covered parking garage that lead them downwards a few stories under the castle. They parked near an elevator area and piled out of the hover car. Alyssa led them towards the elevators and stepped into an available one. She took off her glove and placed her hand on a scanner. It scanned her hand and a voice said, "Hello Alyssa." She typed in a series of letters and numbers and the elevator began to ascend.

Once they reached ground level, the elevator revealed itself to have glass walls and they could watch themselves go up. They watched themselves leave the ground and admired the front garden of the castle. The garden consisted of Hydrangea bushes and Dogwood trees, the royal Family’s signature flora. The garden was weaved into a small maze, mostly for having a nice walk through, with a fountain in the middle. The public was allowed to walk through the garden and maze during the day. You could even get married there, as long as the Queen was invited, which was mostly a common joke, but everybody always invited her.

 The elevator stopped and its doors opened. They all stepped out into a reception area that had couches, bookshelves, and a lobby desk where a girl with dark blonde hair and glasses sat. Her name badge read, "Nicole." The group walked up to the girl and she looked up.

"We have a meeting with the Queen. I just wanted to let you know we're bringing two guests with us. Did you want us to check them in or anything?" Tara asked her. Nicole looked at Stephen and Alexis and looked back to Tara.

"No, it's fine. I mean, just do a simple pat down real quick just so it looks good on camera then you can go in." She replied, continuing doing her paperwork she was working on before. They walked over to an area and gave both Alexis and Stephen a simple procedural pat down and they walked right into the double doors to the right of the lobby desk. They entered a hallway that had multiple doors and they continued on until they reached another pair of double doors at the end. They entered into a room that had a high vaulted ceiling and the entire back wall was a window that over looked the city. There was a big glass conference table in the middle of the room and white chairs that surrounded it. At the end of the table where the window wall was, was a chair that was bigger than the others, clearly for the Queen herself.

"Go ahead and sit anywhere you want at the table, besides the chair that is clearly not an ordinary chair. We're going to go let the Queen know you're here." The girls made their exit out of a door opposite of which they came, which left Stephen and Alexis by themselves. They picked seats near the big chair and sat down. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Do you think the Queen is nice?" Stephen asked. Alexis nodded.

"Did you forget I used to work with her? I mean I knew her before and after she took the throne. She's super nice. She can be a little too formal some times, but I think she feels like she needs to uphold some image. She's still young. She needs to know its okay to be silly some-" Alexis was interrupted by a loud boo. Alexis screamed and Stephen jumped. The Queen appeared from behind their chairs and began to laugh.

"How's that for silly, Alexis?" She waved her hands herself so she could try to stop laughing and recomposed. She had her hair up in 2 small buns, her hair parted perfectly down the middle where it met her forehead bangs. Once side of her hair was black, the other side pink. She wore a white lacy dress that draped down her figure perfectly. She sat down in the big chair. Stephen looked at her critically when a little light bulb went off in his head.

"Weren't you at that art shop today? Talking with Thor?" Stephen asked her. Her eyes widened a bit in surprise.

"I was. How did you know it was me?" She asked.

"You're wearing the same dress as earlier is all." He replied.

"Oh, I see. Anyway, yes I was. Picking up a new piece for the castle. It's a darling little shop." She smiled.

"So I hear you two are interested in helping me with the key to the Underworld." She looked at them seriously. They looked at each other and looked back to her.

"Of course we are, your majesty. Anything we can do to help, we're ready to do." Stephen said. The Queen giggled a bit.

"Please, her majesty is way too formal," She let the word roll off her tongue and looked at Alexis with a smug grin. "Call me Alice." Alexis rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, you two and a few others shall go. I have others on the stand by that will be joining us soon to discuss the mission. I'm offering them a deal that they cannot refuse." She smiled mischievously and looked towards the door that the girls had left through.

The door opened and they had returned, with three guys in tow. They told the guys to sit anywhere they wanted. They went to the opposite side Alexis and Stephen we're on, and sat down. Stephen looked at them and recognized at least two of them. The man that sat nearest the Queen was Thor, the man that owned the art shop. The one next to him was Sam, the guy that had come in to have his things fixed. The guy next to him neither of them knew. Thor looked up at Stephen and offered him a small smile and nod. Sam and the other guy just kept their heads down.

"I'm glad everyone is here now. Shall we begin?" She didn't wait for anyone to say anything. "So I have a task for you all. I need a group of people that are low profile and capable to bring something of mine to World's End and dropping it into the abyss for me. And I think you all are fit for this." She looked among them, waiting for the start of complaints.

They all looked at each other and then at the Queen. Zach was the first to complain.

"Is there an option to not do this? Like, this sounds super shitty and I do not want to do this at all." Zach said, bluntly. Sam glared at him for talking like that to the Queen. Well, what did he expect? It was Zach. The Queen laughed slightly.

"Oh Zach, you are super funny. There is... No possible way you, or Sam," She gestured towards Sam. "Can get out of this. Don't think I don't know what you've been doing. Scamming everyone you come in contact with, with fake artifacts, art pieces, weapons, and anything you can find. Either you go on this journey or you both are sentenced to 5 years jail time. Take your pick. To sweeten your end of the deal, I will wipe all of your criminal records, including today's little fiasco, clean. So you can return into the city and not have to worry about being arrested on the spot."

Zach put his face into his hands and sighed. Sam pinched the bridge of his nose, both clearly frustrated. Alice turned to Thor.

"I know you acted in self-defense today, but I did look into your citizen records and noticed you're a little behind on your store payments. I can offer you full pay off of your business, and even offer you a bigger store so you can even have a full studio if you would like. And of course some money as well if you would like." She watched him lull this over in his head. It would definitely help him if he actually had a full studio. He would be able to expand his canvases and have more room for extra supplies. Plus having extra money never hurt no one. He looked to Alice and smiled.

"I'm in." He said. Alice gleefully clapped.

"Alright! Everything's settled. Oh and Alexis, Stephen. You too will also be compensated. I can offer you both bigger houses, a bigger store and training center and as well as money. Does that sound alright?" They nodded. "Excellent. Before you leave though, I ask that you two," She looked at Alexis and Stephen. "Train these three. I know you all probably do have some experience with fighting, but since they are professionals, I will ask that for the remainder of the day that you train and prepare. You leave tomorrow." She stood and bowed, and walked out of the room.

They all looked at each other and waited awkwardly before the girls came back and escorted them to the castle's personal training arena.

They piled into the elevator and descended to another level and walked through a few halls until they walked into a big room that had weapons display to its left, anything you could imagine was there. To the right there was a glass wall with three doors leading into separate training rooms, so that peers could observe others training without being a distraction. A digital wall panel controlled the setting and the climate for each room.

"Alright, Alexis and Stephen are in charge. We will return later once the Queen feels like you've trained enough. Bathroom is right outside this door and there is a small little break room down the hall if you so choose to take a break and need some food and water. Have fun." The girls waved to Alexis and closed the door behind them, which left the five of them in the room. Stephen and Alexis walked over to the weapon wall and looked to the guys.

"So, pick your poison." Alexis said as she walked over to the weapons display. She waited for them to grab their weapons of choice, but they just looked at her. She rolled her eyes.

"Come grab the weapons you do best with." Stephen reiterated in a simpler way. The guys slowly made their way up to the display. Sam grabbed a plasma revolver and a sword, Zach grabbed gauntlets and a dagger, and Thor grabbed a bow and arrows. Alexis grabbed a compact scythe and Stephen grabbed a sword as well. Alexis walked over to the digital wall panel like the one she had in her training center. She typed in a few different codes and they watched the training rooms began to change through the glass.

"Alright, so I don't know much of what we'll face outside the city. But it's best to prepare for the worst. Make sure you're light on your feet and aware of literally everything. Once you go through your courses for a while and you go through a couple of the advanced stages, we'll do some one on one and two on one training just so you can get used to fighting with actual people, but you're comfortable enough with your weapon. Ready to go guys?" Alexis asked, walking back over to the wall panel and getting obstacle courses for her and Stephen as well. The guys began to meander over to their respective course rooms and began training.

Thor's room was the first of the training room doors. He entered into the room and saw a woodsy arena with targets hanging off of trees and in bushes. He took an arrow from his back and pulled it into the bow. He pulled back and aimed for the one in the tree. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, and let go and hit just an inch from the center. He hit the rest of the targets after a few tries and then the arena changed. The targets began to move as well as the ground, causing Thor to have to be able to shoot an arrow while in he or his target was moving. He fell a few times and also missed some targets. The arena reset itself and he grabbed more arrows out of a small metal drum near the door. He would not be able to move onto the next stage until he did everything perfectly. He sighed and wiped his brow. It was going to be a long day.

**

Zach put on his gauntlets and put his dagger into a knife slot on a belt he grabbed from the weapon display. He entered into the second room. It was a big grassy field and it was about as hot as it was outside right now. Zach stood in the middle of the room and waited for something to happen. Dummies sprang out from under the grass and charged at Zach. He was hit on the side and fell over. These weren't regular dummies. They were animatronic dummies that adapted to the users fighting style. Zach hopped back onto his feet and dodged another dummy coming for him. He punched it in the side of the head and it fell over. This was easy. He charged at the others and took them down as well, until none were left for him. He smirked, dusting himself off. That was easy. More sprang out from different places and charged at him. Zach was hitting them in all the right places and they were going down like flies. Once he finished this wave of dummies, the room lightly flashed and a voice sounded.

"Please move onto next weapon." The artificial voice said. A small table lifted out of the floor. "Please place gauntlets on fixture." Zach removed the gauntlets and placed them on the stand and the table disappeared back into the floor.

The room began to change. The grass went away becoming dirt, the temperature rose, and it became very humid. Zach took out the dagger and crouched a bit. Waiting for the dummies to appear. Two sprang up in front of him and they began to circle him. They started walking around each other, until one lunged for Zach. He made a swift stab to one’s side and clear gel started to leak out, the dummy falling to the ground. While Zach was focused on the dummy, the other one grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. He skidded a bit and got a few cuts on his hands and arms. He jumped to his feet and tackled the dummy to the ground, stabbing it in the chest. He stood up and felt a hand grab his shoulder, turning him, and punching him in the face. Five more had appeared. Zach fell back, but tucked and rolled, and ran to the other side of the room. He was dripping sweat as he watched them start to move towards him. He wiped blood from his mouth and smirked.

"Let's do this."

**

Sam entered the last room. Sam's room resembled a town square at night. He couldn't go in any of the buildings, and it was only lit by the buildings outdoor lights and the "moon" above him. He walked into the middle of the town square and it began to rain. Great, he thought. He pulled out the revolver first and waited for whatever was going to happen. Dummies appeared in the windows of the buildings and he began to shoot them. It was hard to see them with the rain and the glare of the lights, but he managed. He finished them off before they were able to get down from windows. He picked up ammo from a small table that appeared from the ground and reloaded. More appeared right as he finished and he began shooting again. This went one for about 10 minutes and then roomed flashed and the voice sounded.

"Please move onto next weapon." Sam set his revolver into the fixture that had appeared and took his sword out from his hilt. The room itself did not change except for the floor. It flooded itself and then froze. Sam swung the sword a few times to get used to its weight and slid a bit with the ice. Dummies emerged from all around him and charged. He steadied himself and swung, trying to him them where it hurt and where it would only take one strike for them to go down. He went to swing at one that was to his right when he lost his footing and ran into it. He quickly scrambled to stand and stabbed it in the head. Gel oozed from its head and it melted into the ground. Sam breathed heavy and stabbed the sword into the ice so he could steady himself and take a breath. He heard more come up from behind him. He prepared himself for the worst.

**

They all trained by themselves for a few hours. Familiarizing themselves with their weapons of choice as well as a few others, just in case. Once they all had completed the four stages that were set up for them, the door to the room would unlock so they could leave. The first ones to clear all the stages were of course Stephen and Alexis. They trained with each other in the common training room until one by one the others piled out. They all were heaving and huffing, begging for a small break before they started the one on ones. They all took a 30 minute break to eat and re-hydrate. They discussed their stages and what it took to move on to the next round. Alexis stood from her table and looked to the guys.

"Alright. Times up. Let's get this show on the road and show me what you got." She and the rest walked into the great room. Alexis stood in the middle of the circle they made.

"So, who's first?" She looked at everyone. No one said anything. She closed her eyes and stuck her finger out and spun around. She stopped and pointed at Thor.

"Okay, I guess I'm first." He walked up to her and chose a battle stance. Alexis removed the compact scythe from her garter belt and pressed its button. A piece of metal began to extend out of the hilt of the scythe. A blade, at least foot long, began to extend itself out. Alexis crouched in a similar stance, waiting for him to make the first move. Thor gulped and wished he had a close quarter’s weapon now. Thor pulled an arrow from his back and pulled it into position, without taking his eyes off of Alexis.

"The key to fighting someone with a close quarter’s weapon when you have a range weapon is to try to confuse them and take a shot where they might go," Alexis said as she charged at Thor, running insanely fast. She jumped and began to run side to side, switching up her footing to make sure he couldn't get a clear shot. Thor, too, began to run. He ran towards Alexis, which she wasn't expecting, and went past her and jumped. He twisted his body towards her and took a shot. It flew towards her and before she knew what was happening and it grazed the side of her face. She fell to the ground and skidded a few feet.

Thor landed on the ground and watched her. Stephen ran over to her and helped her up. She snapped her eyes to Thor, but not with anger, but with pride. They both stood and she ran at him again, but this time it was into a hug.

"Yo! That was great! Usually people fuck up on that. I'm glad you picked up at what I was hinting at. Good job!" She patted him on the shoulder. They both went to the side as Stephen and Zach and Sam took the circle. Sam decided to use his sword like Stephen was and Zach stuck with his gauntlets. It was Zach and Sam versus Stephen. Thor and Alexis cheered from the side lines, waiting for it to begin. The guys eyed each other, waiting for someone to do something.

Zach charged towards Stephen at full speed. Stephen held his ground and waited for Zach to get closer. Once Zach was in range, Stephen pretended he was going to swing, and dodged him instead. He twirled himself around and tripped Zach. Zach fell on his face and hopped back up and charged, which Stephen didn't expect. Zach landed a solid punch to Stephens gut, sending him to the ground. Zach jumped up and down, cheering.

"Sam, c'mon, we're supposed to be tag teaming him, get in here!" Zach yelled. Sam sighed and got into position. Stephen got up and ran at Sam, while Zach followed behind him. His momentum began to build as he ran at Sam. Stephen and Sam raised their swords. As they we're about to strike, Stephen jumped up and over Sam. Sam and Zach looked at him confused as they ran into each other. Stephen landed and spun to look at them. They were still on the ground, in a pile, groaning.

"Looks like we're going to need to practice a bit more." Stephen smirked. "Let's run it again."

**

They trained for the remainder of the day. Alice called for them at about 6 for dinner and to discuss the way they were going to go to get there safe and in one place. They sat around a huge dining table in a candle lit dining hall. They had all sorts of foods. Ham, fish, turkey, salads, fruits, vegetables, anything you name it. Most of dinner was spent in silence, only the sound of people inhaling their food could be heard. A man that was in Fitz' Fixes earlier came from a room to the left of the table. He walked up to Alice and handed her two copies of what looked like a map.

"Here are the maps you requested. I've marked all the safe houses and places where they can stay. I etched in the fastest way to get there in red ink. Anything else you would like, your majesty?" The man looked at Alice expectantly.

"Thank you, Erik, but that will be it. Please, take the rest of the night off if you so please. You are dismissed." She waved him off. He bowed slightly and walked out of the room back to wherever he came from. She held up the map and began to explain the best routes to Worlds End, and pointed out the best safe houses.

"I personally know the people at these locations," She pointed at a few of the dots marked. "They're all very nice there. They all have splendid food." She continued to tell them things that would help on their journey.

Dinner came to a close and they all stood to leave. Alice walked them to the exit of the dining hall to hand them off to the royal guards so they could be escorted home. Before she opened the door, she gasped.

"I almost forgot something. One moment." She rushed out of the room and quickly returned, holding pendants in her hand. Each pendant a different color.

"Please hold out each of your hands please." She commanded. Everyone stood in a line and held out their hand. "Please, whatever you do, stay as still as possible. No matter how bad it hurts, be still." They looked at her confused but stayed still nonetheless. She held a yellow crystal pendent out for Thor and took the sharp tip of it and swiftly cut into him. He closed his eyes at the pain. The blood seeped into the crystal and his cut immediately healed. She placed it into his hand. She went down the line, giving each of them their own color. Alexis had purple, Stephen blue, Sam red, Zach green.

"These are special crystal pendants. They are hand crafted by me and my family and can only be enchanted as such. See these pendants as your soul. They will help you when you're in need, in a number of ways. They are all connected, like you are all now. If one of you are missing, the crystals will let out a vibe that only you 5 will be able to feel. Then it will be easy to track each other. Please keep these safe." She walked the group to the elevator and stood outside of it as everyone pilled in. They all looked to her. She smiled and handed the key to the Underworld to Thor.

"I trust you all 100%. I look forward to seeing you all again. Good luck and goodnight."

The elevator doors shut.

 


	5. Chapter 5

Everyone silently piled into a hover car after the meeting with the Queen. The hover car began to lift off the ground and made its way up the ramps towards the ground level. It began to pick up speed and soon enough they were above the city. The lights of the city were beautiful at night. Alexis and Stephen were dropped off first, then Sam and Zach. And Lastly Thor. Alyssa told them to pack efficiently but light so they weren't being weighed down. A sixth member of their small group would pick them all up in the morning. Alyssa left it at that.

 

Thor patted his pockets for the keys to his house. His hands fumbled with his keys in the dark to find the right one. He put the right key into the slot and walked into the dark house. Slipping off his shoes, he walked towards the bedroom and turned on the light. He took the Underworld half key out of his small sling back pack and sat on his bed to look at it. It was simple looking. It looked like a half circle with a smaller circle jutting out of the middle. It looked tattered and old. It was made out of what looked like stone. The jutting out circle contained a red jewel, it was possibly ruby. He gently placed it on his nightstand.

He stood up and walked into the bathroom. He turned on the shower and let it run as he undressed. Steam began to fill the bathroom. Thor stepped into the shower and began to wash his hair and beard and think about his upcoming trip. He didn't have a lot of clothes that were made for adventuring. What about washing and drying the clothes? Maybe the safe houses would have laundry rooms. The hot water hit his back as he stood. What about showering? Thor pushed the thoughts out of his mind.

 

Turning off the shower, Thor grabbed a towel off of the towel rack and dried himself off. He tied the towel around his waist and picked up his clothes. Walking out of the bathroom and into the laundry room, he placed the clothes in the washer. He started the washer and went back to his room to put on some boxers.

 

He sifted through his closet to find a bag that could hold all of his things but not hold him down. He let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed his face. It was going to be tough to pack.

 

He eventually found a duffel bag that doubled as a back pack and went with that. He packed a week's worth of socks and boxers, four pairs of pants and five shirts. He placed them all in the bag which, oddly enough, fit perfectly. He even had some room left over. Thor placed his arrow making kit in and zipped it up. He set the duffle bag by the front door. He walked back into his room and set his clock for 2 in the morning, so he could put his clothes in the dryer. He would reset his alarm after he woke up for 6. He wanted to at least have one last home cooked meal before he left for what seemed like 1,000 years. He laid down and quickly fell asleep.

 

Morning came way too fast. His alarm was blaring louder than usual. He hit the snooze alarm and sat up. The sun was just barely making its way into Thors room. Thor swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood. He walked into the bathroom and did his morning routine. After, he walked into the kitchen and made himself a ham, eggs, and pancake breakfast. He lazily picked at his food and took small bites. Thor wondered what time the mysterious sixth member of their band of misfits would arrive when he heard knocking. He stood up and walked over to his front door and peaked through the peep hole.

 

A woman with bobbed blonde hair with a black headband stood on the other side. She was wearing a black cat suit. She looked up from her phone and looked directly into the peep hole, green eyes burning into his. He stood back and opened the door.

 

"Good morning... Uh... Can I help you?" Thor asked.

 

"Good morning Thor, I'm here to pick you up for the Queens quest. My name is Marilyn." She extended her hand. Thor nodded, looking confused but shook her hand nonetheless.

 

"Oh, I didn't expect to leave this early. I was just finishing up breakfast, I hope that's not an issue? I just need to get dressed and I will be ready. Would you like to come in?" He opened his door wider, offering her to come in. She looked at her watch, then looked back to Thor and reluctantly walked in and sat at the breakfast bar.

 

"It shouldn't be an issue, but I wouldn't take too long." She said. She took out her phone and started texting someone. Thor went back to his plate and took a few more bites, finishing his food and took it to the sink. He washed his dish and fork so he wouldn't have to come back to a smelly kitchen. He put his dish and fork back where they belonged and ran to his room to quickly get dressed. He pulled on some worn jeans and a tee shirt with a zip up hoodie and slipped on a beanie. It was chilly in the morning. He grabbed his bow and arrow bag, sliding them onto his back. He walked over to his nightstand and grabbed the half key and returned out to the living room. He picked up the duffle bag.

 

"Ready to go whenever you are." He said. Marilyn stood and walked towards Thor. She pulled out a small pouch.

 

"Give me your duffle bag." She waited for Thor to hand it over. He narrowed his eyes at her, and he did as he was told. She closed her eyes and mumbled something, and suddenly his duffle bag was shirking in size. It shrunk down to the size of Thors pinky finger and she put it in her pouch. Thor stared at her then back to the pouch then back to her. How the fuck did she do that?

 

"Uh, what just happened?" Thor quietly said. Marilyn handed Thor the tiny bag.

 

"I suppose I should explain that to you," She looked back at him. "The Queen has given me these special bags that lets the user put anything of any size into it. It would be such a chore to have everyone lug their stuff around the entire trip. This is more efficient. " She began to head out the front door but stopped.

"Can I see the half key as well?" She asked. Thor held onto it for a second.

"Why? I know I should trust you but I just met you. I need to keep this safe." He spoke softly.

"You can trust me. I have another pouch. It’s similar but this one can only be used by a certain person. I'm entrusting you with it. Once the half key is shrunk down and put into the pouch, you can tie it up and attach it to a necklace or something." She pulled out the second pouch and handed it to Thor.

"Whenever you need to shrink an item down, focus on it and say 'bheith beag.' and whenever you need to need to make it big again say 'bheith mór.' Understand? You try it." She stood away from Thor. Thor held the half key and said the words. The half key suddenly shrank in size. He looked wide eyed from Marilyn to the half key. He put it into the pouch and tied a chain on it, so that it could hang from his neck.

Marilyn headed out the front door, Thor followed behind, closing and locking the door. They started their way to Alexis and Stephen's neighborhood.

 

"What happens if we lose the bag, or you?" He inquired. She walked quickly, taking big steps, causing Thor to have to semi-jog to keep up. Marilyn stopped in her tracks and turned to Thor.

“We will not let that happen.” Marilyn’s eyes bore into Thor’s. Thor shivered a little bit but held his ground. Marilyn turned quick on her heels and started walking again, Thor in tow.

 

 

They soon arrived at Alexis’ house. The sun was beginning to heat up the ever awakening town. Thor and Marilyn walked up to the door and knocked. Alexis answered the door and greeted the two.

 

"Hey guys, good morning. Stephens just about ready at his house. Please, come in." She invited them into her home and walked into her room. Thor and Marilyn walked in, shutting the door behind them. Alexis brought out a big hiking backpack and set it on the couch. Alexis was wearing a green and cream colored dress along with big black hiking boots. On her thigh was a garter belt that held her compact scythe. She sat down and invited the others to join. She took out her scythe and opened a compartment on the side of it and began to put ammunition into it.

 

"I thought that was just a scythe?" Thor asked, sitting down on the couch beside Marilyn. Alexis looked up from her weapon.

 

"I made some modifications to Stephens and I's weapons last night. I added a gun feature to my scythe and added an elemental feature to his sword! He just has to press a button on the hilt of the sword, and it will either become engulfed in ice, fire, lightning, thorns, you name it." She continued loading her gun-scythe thing when Stephen walked in through the front door. He was wearing shorts with black boots that matched Alexis', as well as a tee shirt. His sword was slung over his back.

 

"I'm ready to go!" He walked over to the side of the couch, and waited for everyone to stand. Marilyn walked over to Stephen and took his bag and put it into a personalized pouch, handing it to him. She knelt down and took Alexis' bag from the couch and did the same thing, tossing it to Alexis. Alexis and Stephen looked at her wide eyed.

 

"Would you like to explain on the way?" Marilyn asked Thor, while walking out the front door, not waiting for a response. Thor rolled his eyes and began to explain the magical bag of endless space to them. They both were intrigued to no end.

 

They walked just as fast to Sam and Zach's house as they did to Alexis’, but this time it was a longer walk. They briskly passed through the growing crowded area of the market district. The crowds paid no mind to the group, which was what they wanted. They needed to be low key as possible. They didn't know if Cassius had sent out any kind of spies to the city.

 

They rounded around a corner down the road Sam and Zach lived on. They saw them already waiting outside their house, just standing around.

 

"See I told you they would be here early. Aren't you glad that we aren't rushing around trying to get our things together and also eat?" Sam said matter-of-factly. Zach flipped him off and picked up his bag. Sam picked up his bag as well. Zach was wearing shorts and a tank top with sneakers and Sam was wearing the usual. Sam had a sword slung around his back as well as his plasma revolver in his belt. Zach had two bracelets on his wrists that would turn into gauntlets when he clenched his fists hard enough. He had a weapon belt on as well. A dagger sat in one of the loops. The group walked up to the two.

 

"Uh, who are you? Are you that sixth member that Alyssa was talking about last night?" Sam asked.

 

"I am. My name is Marilyn. Give me your bags." She extended her hand to each of the boys. They looked at each other then back to the lady. Sam handed it to her no problem, while Zach reluctantly agreed. She once again did her little magic trick, handing them the pouches. Sam didn't seem impressed while Zach suddenly got defensive.

 

"Where the hell did my stuff go?" He said, opening the pouch and peering in.

 

"It's quite the process to explain. Long story short, magic bag with endless space that will hold your stuff. Got it? Good." Marilyn said. "Anyways, we will now make our way to one of the guard posts that have a secret passage way out of the city. It'll pop us out in the middle of the forest west of the city, which is where we begin our journey. Any questions?" She looked at everyone. Everyone looked at each other. She nodded.

 

"Alright, well, we're off then."

 


	6. Chapter 6

The group walked up to a door that lead right into the wall that surrounded the entire city. The wall was made with white tumbled stone. It was about 20 feet tall, and magically sealed so that no bad magic could penetrate it.

They walked through the white door into a small, dimly lit hallway that led downwards. The group followed behind Marilyn in silence, uncertain of what was up next. They turned a corner which led into another hallway that seemed to go on forever.

They reached a pair of double doors that led into a giant conference room. There was a big table in the middle of the room that had wheeled chairs around it. At the head of the table away from the door they had entered, was a computer that controlled the projector that was above the table. On one wall there was a big screen. The other wall was fitted with a white board along with a set of expo markers. Marilyn motioned for them to all sit down.

One by one they sat down. Marilyn took the spot with the computer and began typing. The projector roared to life and displayed a map on the screen of the entire world. Little dots on the map showed where they were, where the safe houses were, and where their destination was.

"So the entire trip, including a few days leeway for anything that were to come up should only take roughly a month, one way. Maybe a month and a half. It would be faster if we could take a boat or by air, but we cannot risk Cassius or anyone on the rebel's side to take us or the key. So we're stuck with by foot. We'll be spending the night at the small town of Bluewood tonight. A close friend of the Queen's family and a retired royal guard lives there and has a huge place for us to eat and rest. Any questions?" Marilyn asked.

"What if one of us gets captured? What should be do?" Alexis chimed in. Marilyn looked up from the computer.

"If you get captured, well to put it bluntly, you're no longer of use. We'll try to see if there is a simple way of recovering whoever is nabbed, but our first and foremost priority is the disposal of the key." She said coldly. The color drained a bit from Alexis' face. She nodded along with Marilyn's words.

"Alright now if there are no more questions, ready to go?" Everyone nodded.

"Good. Follow me." She pushed in her chair and headed for the other double doors behind where her chair was. She opened them and stood to the side while the others walked through. There was another long hallway ahead of them that lead to spiral stairs. Marilyn closed the doors behind her and locked them.

As they walked towards the stairs, the hallway lights began to turn off except for the ones illuminating the stair well. One by one they walked up the stairs. Behind them a wall shut them off from once they came, making it seem like the stairs lead to nowhere. They reached the top of the stairs, stopping in front of a wooden door that had vines growing through it. Marilyn unlocked it with an old looking key and pushed it open. It slowly opened to a vine and moss infested cave. Light came through the opening of the cave.

They walked into the cave, giving Marilyn enough room to shut the door and lock it. With the click of the lock, Marilyn turned and headed for the entrance of the cave and continued on.

The light was bright compared to the office and cave. The light flooded the forest through the evergreen trees that surrounded them. The air was fresh and clean. Marilyn took out her phone and typed in Bluewood's coordinates.

"Alright, so were going to head west for a while until we hit the Nion River. Then we'll follow it until we arrive at the town." She put her phone back in her pouch and began to walk. Everyone followed in suit. Everyone was silent, not really sure what to say.

**

The calmness of the forest helped settle their nerves. The wind began to pick up a bit. It was about noon or a little after. The sun was high, and began to warm of the forest. Deer grazed near where they were. They watched the group pass them by. Squirrels scattered as they walked on.

They were halted by fallen elder trees the size of what seemed like entire sky scrapper. Marilyn began to climb over them with ease. Zach and Sam looked to see if they could just walk around. They turned to go when Marilyn yelled at them just to climb. They sighed and began to climb as well. One by one they climbed over and continued their journey.

"Do you think Joey is going to be able to hold down the store while were gone?" Alexis asked Stephen as they walked.

"I don't see why not. I left instructions for literally kind of issue or situation. I told him we would be gone for a long time and he seemed okay. Even if anything happens, I'm sure the Queen will know what to do with the shop. Don't worry." He offered her a smile. Thor quickened his pace to match Marilyn's.

"So Marilyn, what's your story? How do you fit into this?" Thor asked her. Marilyn kept her head forward and spoke.

"I'm one of the core royal guards. I'm not well known cause I need to keep a low profile. Alice asked me to lead the team just in case you guys needed the aide. She trusts me with everything so why not this. Plus I have a score to settle with Cassius." She trailed off. Thor decided not to pry and just walked with her.

**

As everyone began to carry on their own conversations, Sam and Zach walked in silence at the back of the group. Zach had put in ear buds and was listening to music. Probably country or rap, Sam thought. Sam just looked at the ground as he walked. He wondered if it would actually take a month to finish this little escapade. They probably could take a boat or hover car, they were just being paranoid. This entire thing was so stupid. All they had to do was just hide the key somewhere Cassius couldn't find it. Easy.

While Sam was deep in thought, he ran into the back of Stephen. He nearly had pushed him over.

"Why are stopping all of-" Marilyn covered Sam's mouth with her hand and put a finger to her lips. She motioned for them to hide behind a few bushes and trees. They all kneeled down, looking at her curiously, while Zach leaned against the tree, going through different music on his phone.

"There's a group of rebels over there. We need to be quiet and fast. I cannot believe they're this close to the city..." She swore under her breathe and peeked through the bushes. There were two tents and four rebels sitting around the small camp. There looked to be two girls and two guys, doing various things from fixing weapons to chatting. They all wore black clothes with the rebel emblem, an upside down bleeding rose, on their chests and shoulders. They didn't seem to notice them at all. The rest of the group looked at each other, clearly afraid.

Marilyn rose slightly, still crouched, and began to sneak away, down a hill. Alexis, Stephen and Thor followed right behind her. Sam got up to follow when he noticed Zach leaning against the tree still, not even paying attention to the fact that they were leaving. Sam waved his hands around a bit to get his attention. He didn't want to have to hobble all the way over to where he was and risk him making any more excess noise.

Zach finally noticed Sam and pulled his ear buds out.

"What?" Zach said out loud. Sam cringed and tightened up. He threw his finger up to his lips. He glared at him and gestured him to come down and closer to him.

"Sam just use your voice, and why are you all on the ground?" Zach began to walk over to Sam when he looked over the bushes to see the rebels looking directly at him, weapons raised.

"Oh fuck." He said as he ducked just in time for an arrow to fly right were his head was.

"Little help over here!" Sam shouted as he readied his revolver. Zach put his hand on his dagger, ready for whoever tried something on him.

Sam heard Marilyn cuss and watched as she and the others came back up the hill. Stephen and Alexis sprang up and ran towards the rebels. Stephen unsheathed his sword and ran at the closest rebel, a tall man. The man took out a sword as well. Stephen swung hard at the man. He blocked his swing and stood his ground.

"We need to rush them! That's the only way! Move people!" Marilyn cried out. She ran at one of the girls. She shook her wrists as she ran and two blades revealed themselves. The girl didn't have time to take out her gun before Marilyn uppercutted her, blade slashing her throat. The girl gripped her throat as she fell to the ground, lifeless. Marilyn didn't skip a beat before running at the next girl and giving her a similar fate.

Thor grabbed an arrow, putting it into his bow, and aimed his bow at the man Stephen was fighting, aiming for his side. He exhaled slowly and released his arrow. The arrow missed his side because of the wind but hit his leg instead. The man was caught off guard and yelled in pain, focusing his attention on his leg. This gave Stephen the edge he needed, and he made his final blow. His sword slashed the man in the chest. He yelled out before falling to the ground. Stephen turned to Thor and nodded thanks to him.

Alexis ran at the man that was nearing the bushes where Sam and Zach were. She grabbed her scythe and clicked the button. It grew in size and she brought her arm back to prepare her swing, when she tripped over a tree root. She fell right in front of the man. Before she could scramble up, he grabbed her by the hair and put her in a choke hold. She screamed and scratched his arms but that didn't seem to be of any use. He laughed at her attempts to break free.

Sam sprang from the bushes, revolver cocked, pointed directly at the man's head.

"Let her go or this bullet is going right between your eyes." Sam spoke with vigor. The man cackled at his remark.

"Like you could shoot me before I snapped her neck. I would like to see you try..." He narrowed his eyes at Sam. Stephen hurried over but was stopped by the man speaking.

"Any of you make one more move towards me, and she gets it." He and Sam locked eyes.

"You're going to let her go, before I fucking kill you." Stephen spat at the man, gripping his sword tightly. He continued to be amused be the group's efforts to have him release Alexis.

"None of you would even make it a foot towards m-" The man's words stopped suddenly as Zach appeared from behind him, driving his dagger into the side of the man's throat. He dropped Alexis who fell to the ground, coughing as she crawled away, and gurgled as he reached up at his throat in an attempt to grab the dagger. Zach kicked the man's back, sending him to the ground. He stepped on his back as he pulled out his dagger. Sam helped Alexis up, thankful that Zach had acted when he did.

"Holy shit Zach, thank you. I would have been a goner." Alexis said as she walked over to him and hugged him. Zach patted her back.

"No problem. It was fun to stab that fuck in the throat." Zach smiled. Marilyn brushed herself off and walked over to group.

"Good job guys, I'm glad to see that you all can hold your own, for the most part at least. Let's search the camp for anything that could give us a reason why they would be this close to the city. If you find anything, come find me. After were done here, we burn everything." She walked over to the first tent and began going through the rebels things. Alexis and Stephen followed her and Sam and Zach searched the second tent. Thor searched the bodies for anything of use.

Marilyn found a map that showed the camp they were in but no others. She sifted through a chest of papers, quickly skimming them all for anything useful. Alexis went through a bag that was next to the chest and found a small letter. It didn't have any kind of marking on the outside. She opened it up, it read:

“They know I am coming for the key. Make sure no one coming from the city gets past you. Kill anyone you see. I will be keeping touch.

Cassius.”

Alexis' eyes widened and she handed the letter to Marilyn. She read the letter as well. She tucked the letter away in her pouch and pulled out her phone. She dialed a number and waited.

"Carter. It's Marilyn. I need to speak with Alice, NOW." She sternly spoke to her associate. She waited what seemed like only a second when Alexis heard a 'Hello?' come from the phone.

"Cassius somehow knows the key is being moved. Alexis found a note stating to kill anyone coming west of the city. There was a camp but we took them all down. I felt you should know. I have put the note in the pouch in case you would like to read it with your own eyes." Alice said a few things to Marilyn and the conversation was ended.

No one else found anything important, so they started taking down the camp and piling it into one spot. Once the last of the bodies and supplies were in place, Marilyn threw a bunch of gun powder all over. She asked Sam to shoot anywhere in the pile. He did as he was told and the fire came to life. They all watched it for a moment. The flames danced in the wind as Zach watched the fire. He sensed movement in his peripheral and quickly looked to see a fast black figure disappear. He turned to say something when Marilyn cut him off.

"Let's move. We don't know when anyone will be coming for them. Better to not be here when they get here." Marilyn started in the direction they were initially going, not even waiting to see what Zach had to say. The others started walking after her, Zach shook his head and decided he would just keep that to himself and began to walk as well. The smell of smoke followed them. They all looked sullen after what had just transpired, but knew it was only just the beginning of it.

They eventually reached the river after two hours of walking. They followed the river into the little town of Bluewood. A few people walked through the street as they entered. They looked at them suspiciously. Marilyn guided them to what looked like an inn. The sign on the door read: "McGregor Inn". A bell chimed as they all walked in and a tall, tan man walked into the lobby.

"Hey... Marilyn? Haven't seen you in forever! Or at least since my dad and I came to the city for his retirement ceremony. That was like, maybe over a year or two ago?" He came up to Marilyn and hugged her.

"Hello Ethan. It has been a while. Is your dad around? I have some... business to talk to him about. And do you think you could help my friends into the 'business wing' of the inn?" Marilyn said as she hugged Ethan. He looked at the group as he spoke to her.

"Yeah he's down in the cellar fixing up some things. I'll show you guys your rooms then I'll bring you to him." He smiled. He walked over to a small lounge area that had a few couches, a table and a china cabinet. He pressed his hand into a wall panel that was to the side of the china cabinet. It sunk back farther and then slid to the side, revealing a stair case that lead down to a basement area. He led the group down the stairs, and flipped on the lights. It opened up into a large kitchen and dining area. To the left was a hallway that lead to bedrooms and bathrooms. He moved out of the way to let the rest of them come down.

"So if you guys need to come out for any reason, there's a lever on the wall at the top of the stairs that you pull. It'll open up the wall panel. The wall panel is see through, so I ask that you only come through if you don't see anyone.“ Ethan said.

"There's plenty of food in this kitchen for you guys so please have at it. Make yourselves at home. Marilyn if you'll come with me, we can go find my dad." Marilyn nodded to the others and headed up the stairs with Ethan. Once they heard the door close, Alexis headed straight for the pantry and looked inside.

"I'm gonna make some macaroni and sandwiches if anyone wants some?" The boys all nodded hungrily. She grabbed three boxes, and found the biggest pot and filled it with water. She placed it on the stove and turned it on. She then grabbed mayonnaise, mustard, lettuce, cheese, and deli slices out of the fridge and some bread from the bread box on the counter and went to work. By the time the water had started boiling, she had all the sandwiches made, cut into triangles, and on plates. She poured the noodles in and began to stir.

Soon enough the macaroni was done and she poured it into bowls for everyone, including Marilyn, and put the bowls on the plates as well. She put the plates at the table and called everyone in the kitchen so that they could eat. The boys practically flew to their seats and instantly started inhaling their food. Alexis rolled her eyes took a few bites of her sandwich and then started eating her macaroni.

"What do you say to the woman that just cooked you all food?" Marilyn said as she came down the stairs. She walked over to the table and sat next to Alexis who had also put out a plate for her. The boys stopped stuffing their faces for one moment and looked at Alexis sheepishly, and said thank you through their mouthfuls, then continued to eat. Marilyn and Alexis giggled and continued eating their food as well, chatting a bit.

After dinner, everyone showered and got into lounging clothes. Marilyn went to each room, informing them that they were staying until she heard from Alice about how to proceed, since Cassius knew that someone was transporting the key. It would be at least a day. She said goodnight to everyone and retired to her room.

They all laid in their beds and replayed the day over and over in their minds. If this was just day one, imagine what the next month was going to be like. Soon enough everyone drifted off to sleep.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Marilyn was woken by her shoulder being vigorously shaken. She sat up in her bed and turned on her bedside lamp. Once her eyes adjusted she saw that it was Mr. McGregor.

"Sir, what is it?" What time is it?" She moved up her shirt sleeve to look at her watch. Six seventeen A.M.

"Never mind that. I need you to gather your friends into a small room that is under the stairs, the door is here, in your room. There is a button behind the small dresser, which will open it. Cassius and his men are here. I do not know how much time we have before he finds the safe room. Hurry!" He stammered out. He quickly walked out of her room and banged on all the doors and made his way up the stairs and closed the panel behind him. The rest of the group slowly opened their doors and walked into the hallway.

"What was that all about?" Alexis said as she stepped out of her room, Stephen following suit from his room, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"We need to gather our stuff and hide. Quickly! Cassius is here and we need to make ourselves scarce. Move it people!" She frantically made her bed to make it seem like no one was here and then pressed the button. The wall slid open and she walked into the hallway to see the status of the others. Alexis and Stephen ran out of their room and into the small room with Thor and Zach not too far behind them. Marilyn walked into the room Zach and Sam were in to see Sam leisurely making the bed. She stomped over to the other side of the bed and furiously made it for him.

"Do you not understand the urgency right now? Goodness!" She walked to where he was and grabbed his arm and dragged him to the small room, slightly shoving him in causing him to trip and fall to the ground. She then pressed the button to close the door. She leaned against the wall and slid down and held her head in her hands and sighed quietly. She massaged her temples and thought. She needed to calm herself and regain her composure if she was going to make it through this. She looked up to see the others sitting on the ground as well, huddled together, looking questionably at her. She rubbed her face and spoke.

"I don't know how he found us, but he did. Pray he does not find this room. I won't sugar coat it for you guys. He finds us, we are all done. He will kill us and take the key." She pulled her knees to her chest and put her arms on them, resting her head. The others looked very concerned. They stayed quiet for a bit.

"Is there a way for us to turn off the mechanism so that even if he found the button that opens the room, he couldn't open it?" Thor asked. Marilyn thought for a moment. She stood and looked at the button that opened the room, examining it to see if there was a way she could open the box. Maybe she could mess with the wires so she could temporarily disable the button.

As she was about to pull a wire, she heard footsteps from the ceiling. Someone was coming down the stairs. No. People were coming down the stairs. Marilyn backed away slowly and sat at the opposite side of the room from the door. She knelt on the ground next to Sam and waited. They all listened to footsteps near the end of the stairs and began to walk around.

Marilyn looked at her group and everyone's face looked sullen. She thought about saying something to lift their spirits when she heard the door to her room be opened. Footsteps walked near the door and stopped. Everyone held their breath.

"I know they were here. You can't hide that fact. It's sad that you've decided to take my wretched sister's side in this war." A voice could be heard from the other side of the wall. Marilyn's eyes widened. That voice belonged to no other than Cassius. She shook her wrists and her blades came out, preparing for the worst.

"Cassius please..." Mr. McGregor's voice was shaky and weak. "I'm not picking sides. No one has been down here besides to clean. I wouldn't lie to you. I know what you're capable of." He trailed off. Cassius laughed.

"You clearly have no idea of what I'm capable of." He voice was icy, as he walked over to the old man. They heard a struggle and soft plea and then something fall to the ground, and finally, silence. Alexis covered her mouth and tried not to cry. Marilyn stayed tense and ready. Cassius walked out of the room and heard footsteps go up the stairs. They waited in the small room for a while longer then Marilyn stood.

"I'm going to go out first. Check to see if anyone is here. If you hear a struggle, don't come out unless I say so." She whispered. She pressed the button and walked out.

They heard her gasp and fall to the ground. They heard soft sobs. Alexis and Sam stood and walked over to the door way and peeked out. Mr. McGregor laid on the floor, covered in his blood. Cassius had slashed his throat. Marilyn held his hand and cried. Alexis walked out and knelt next to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. She snapped her head up at her, clearly startled. She pulled her hand away and mumbled a sorry. Her bottom lip quivered and she fell into Alexis' lap, crying once again. Sam quietly explained what happened to the Thor, Zach and Stephen. They all stayed quiet.

Marilyn finally pulled herself together and stood. She wiped her face on a hand towel that was on her night stand and blew her nose. She breathed deeply and turned.

"I'm sorry you all had to see that. I... Am going to let Ethan know what has happened. Please don't touch his body. Wait in the living room." She briskly walked out of the room and up the stairs. Everyone walked into the living room and sat in silence until they heard someone fumble down the stairs and into Marilyn's room. Ethan's wails could be heard loud and clear. A few employees rushed down the stairs as well to help him calm down. Marilyn walked into the living room and motioned for everyone to follow.

They walked up the stairs and into the lobby of the inn. She stopped in front of the door and turned to the group.

"We will start our journey to the next safe house even though we have not heard from Alice. We have to play this by ear now. We know what Cassius is capable of. We need to be quick and silent."

She walked out of the inn and back towards the river.

The other followed suit, quickening their pace to match hers. The sky was cloudy, sun breaking through here and there. It was about six forty five now. Birds began to chirp as well as the forests animals began to stir. The river softly filled the air with the sounds of the rushing water.

The group walked beside the river to help them stay on the right path. The river began to slightly incline, and then the group was stopped. The river stopped and a waterfall with a small little pool of water began. They could walk around it but it would take too long and they needed to be quick if Cassius was on their tail.

Marilyn held up her hand to have the group stay put and she began to examine the rocks. With enough concentration, they could all easily make it up. She turned to the group.

"Alright, early morning climbing never hurt anyone. There's a lot of foot holds and curved rocks so climbing shouldn't be too hard. I can go first to secure a line so then the rest of you can easily climb up. Give me a minute." Marilyn said. She started to climb the rocky wall with ease. The rocks were damp and slippery from the mist resonating from the waterfall.

She finally reached the top and sat for a second to catch her breath. She needed to find a rope and a something to tether it to, to help the others up. She yelled down to them that she would be right back and walked off into the forest. There were many vines on the ground near a huge tree, Marilyn collected them and decided she would tie them together. She continued on and found a thick piece of wood that she could spike into the ground to serve as her tether. Marilyn headed back towards the cliff side.

She began to bury the tether into the ground, tying all the vines together. She then tied the vines to the tether and threw the vine rope down.

"Alright who’s first?" Marilyn called down. Everyone looked at each other and stayed where they were.

"I mean, ladies first, am I right?" Sam said, grinning. Alexis glared at him but decided to go first. She grabbed the vine and tied it around her waist. She gave it a few test tugs and grabbed the wall.

"You guys better stand back. I'm wearing a dress after all. Anyone caught looking up my skirt, I swear to god, I will fucking drown you in this waterfall." She smiled and began to climb. The rocks were wetter than she was expecting and she slipped a few times. Slowly but surely she reached the top.

"Holy shit that was intense." Alexis said, hugging the ground. Marilyn laughed. Alexis untied the vine and threw it back down to the boys and sat next to Marilyn, getting comfy to enjoy the show.

One by one the boys came up. Stephen was the next one to go, he got up just fine. Then Thor, with minor issues. Then Sam, slipping at least ten times. Finally it was Zach's turn. Zach tied the vine around his waist and grabbed the wall when something black blurred behind the waterfall. He leaned towards the waterfall to get a better look.

"Zach are you coming up or what?" Sam called down. Zach held up a finger and began to climb.

"I'm coming up now, what do you mean?" He started climbing diagonally, closer to the waterfall. The other looked at each other but stayed silent. Zach slowly climbed closer and closer. Finally he found good footing and stayed still. He untied the vine and let it drop. He then sprang from his spot and into the water fall. The others gasped and shouted his name. He didn't resurface. They began to climb down when they heard some yelling.

Out came Zach and another man. They sprang out from behind the water fall and into the pool of water. Marilyn jumped from the cliff to the ground below. She tucked and rolled and waited for Zach and the man to come up. Zach was the first to come up for air, then the other man.

"Get him! He's the one that has my knife!" Zach wrestled with the man while Marilyn jumped in and aided him. Alexis jumped and dove into the pool of water while the guys climbed down. Zach and Marilyn managed to grab the man and drag him to shore while Alexis circled them, just in case he tried to get away. They held him to the ground while they grabbed more vines and bound his hands.

"Who are you and why did you take my knife?" Zach yelled at the man. The man was Asian. He looked about 5'9". He was wearing dark clothing and had Zach's knife on his belt. Zach ripped it from his belt and attached it to his own. The man looked around and then decided to speak.

"We can talk but please, can we go back into the cave behind the water fall. It's safe from Cassius there." The group froze at the mention of Cassius. Zach went to speak but Marilyn cut him off.

"Yes. Lead the way. But know this, any fast moves and I will spear you where you stand." Her voice icy. She helped the man up and he led them up and through the waterfall.

The cave was spacious. It was almost like a small house. Perfectly shielded from the outside world. It was surprisingly warm and cozy. The man walked into what looked like a dining room and sat down. The group sat down as well and waited for the man to speak.

"My name is Peter. I'm just a simple thief that takes in contracts from anyone needing assistance getting what they want.” Peter said. Marilyn motioned for him to keep going, as she sharpened her wrist blades. Peter watched her carefully and continued. “I was tasked out by Cassius to retrieve that knife. I have no idea what the significance of it is, I was just told to get it. Now can you please leave? I really would rather not have all this commotion attract anyone or anything..." He sat in his chair, waiting for a response.

"You've been following us. I know it. You know more than what you're letting on. And I'm going to find out what." Zach said, raising his fist and slowly closing the distance between him and Peter.

 


	8. Chapter 8

"Calm down, alright. I honestly don't know anything." The man pleaded but still sounded like he was trying to maintain the upper hand in the conversation. Zach rolled his eyes and paced. The others looked at each other as Marilyn seemed to be racking her brain on what to do. Peter sat and watched each person carefully, sizing them up. There was nothing they could say or do to make him talk.

He was one of the most careful thieves in the region. He was hired on a few months ago, knowing nothing of the impending war against the Union and the Rebellion. Peter had been living in a small town about fifty miles east of the Union when Cassius paid him a visit. Peter had been working for a friend in their small convenience store near the outskirts of their town. It was a normal day. It was sunny and a little warmer than most days. Peter sat at the counter, playing a game on his phone to pass the time. He had only a few customers when a tall figure walked into the store.

Peter quickly put away his device and hollered the most monotone phrase from his spot.

"Hello, welcome to Karl's Market. Let me know if I can assist you." Peter leaned to look at the tall figure. It was a man about 6'6". He had brown short hair and a scar on his cheek. He looked like someone that would kill you for looking at them wrong. He was dressed in all black and walked slowly towards the counter. Peter suddenly felt like maybe he should have called in today.

The man arrived at the counter and leaned forward to look Peter up and down. Peter looked at him while leaning away slightly, and looked away. He cleared his throat.

"Is... Is there anything I can help you with...?” Peter spoke softly and still didn't make eye contact. The man continued to stare for a moment, then a smirk grew on his face. He leaned back and chuckled. He walked over to a drinks cooler and pulled out a soda. He popped it open and drank. Peter quickly began to text his friend that there was a weirdo in the store messing with the goods, but before he could send the text, the man was already back at the counter. He placed money on the counter and looked at peter.

"So tell me Peter. How long have you been working here to throw the Feds off your trail?" The man spoke with a silver tongue. Peter’s blood went to ice. No one in this town knew who he really was.

 

Peter was raised in a family of thieves, they all were the best in their field. Until one day, a family friend tipped off the Feds on their next score and the family was captured, besides Peter. He was out training for a new technique when it had happened. He had no idea if his family was alive or dead. It had been months and he still had not heard of anything.

The man snapped his fingers in Peter's face to bring him back to reality.

"Come back to Earth, space cadet. I have a proposition for you." The man waited for Peter's response. Peter was slightly interested in what he had to say.

"Go on, but first, can I please have a name? I kinda want to know who's asking me what." Peter responded.

"Oh how silly of me. My name is Cassius." He said. "And I know you. I know all about you, Peter. And I want you to join me and my cause. I pay well and will supply you with whatever you need to get things done." He began to pace around the store, like he was giving Peter time to process it all. Peter had a feeling if he were to say no, that would be the last thing he would do.

"What exactly would I be doing?" Peter asked. Cassius turned to him and smiled.

"Well, obviously thieves work. But as well as whatever I need you to be or do. If I need you to guard my quarters at night, you'll do that. If I need you to kill," He narrowed his eyes at Peter, sending shivers down his spin. "You’ll do that. Need I say anymore?" He trailed off as he picked up his pacing once more.

"I'll do it. On one condition." Peter spoke with as much bravery as he could manage. Cassius turned to Peter, curious.

"I need help finding my family. Or just knowing that they're alive and okay. With that information, I will do it." Peter stood and held out his hand, ready to shake on it. Cassius walked through the aisles back up to Peter. He looked at Peter with a stone cold glare that turned into a menacing smile. He firmly grasped Peters hand and shook on it.

"Good decision, partner."

Marilyn snapped her fingers in Peter's face to get his attention.

"Goodness, when you space out, you're gone for a long time." She sat down next to him and held out her phone and placed it in front of Peter. An image of Peter and Cassius talking in a camp appeared on the screen. Peter's eyes widened and he looked at Marilyn. Before he could speak, she played an audio recording. It was Peter and Cassius, talking about the knife Zach had. They discussed where he would be and when. How to get the knife. Best way to outsmart Zach incase anything got messy. Zach glared at Peter the entire time of the recording. Marilyn stopped the recording and smiled, resting her head on her hand. Waiting for Peter to give them his best excuse.

He looked at Marilyn for a long time before speaking. There was no way he could get out of this one. He sighed and rubbed his face.

"Cassius hired me months ago. He needed me to be his right hand man essentially. I have done other things already, the knife was not mentioned until we made it west of the city. He didn't say why or what it was for. I try not to ask, the less I know, the easier it will be to leave." He stood and walked over to the cabinet to grab a glass. He filled it up with water and took a few sips before continuing. "He doesn't tell anyone anything. The only thing we know is that we're trying to get the other half of some key so he can rule over the land. Most of his people are blindly following his promises of power, but I know better. He will get this key together and turn on everyone that helped him along the way. I've seen this before and it will not end well."

The group looked at one another. Confused on what the significance of the knife was. Zach took the knife off of his belt and looked at it. The casing of it was black with a sage insignia on it that resembled a vine. There was a small red stone in the hilt of the knife. Zach closely examined it. Marilyn watched him as he was doing this.

"Zach, can I see your knife? Just want to get a better look." Zach nodded and handed her the knife.

She looked it over and studied all of its attributes. She focused on the stone and she hummed to herself. She looked to see Peter watching her. She thought for a moment and then spoke.

"Do you have another room I can go to, to study this really quick?" She asked Peter. He looked at her questioningly.

"There's a storage room right outside the hallway, just walk out and to the left and it should be right across from this room." He gestured with his hands the direction. Marilyn began to walk out of the room, but also grabbed Thor by the shirt collar and guided him with her. They walked out of the room, leaving everyone confused and curious.

They walked out of the dining room and as Peter said, there was a door to the left, across the hallway. They walked in and Marilyn felt for a light switch. She flipped it on and the room was just a bunch of boxes and dust tarps covering said boxes. She shut the door and locked it.

She made her way over to a bigger box on the group and kneeled, laying the knife on it. She turned to Thor and gestured him to follow her. He kneeled next to her and turned to her.

"So are you going to explain why you brought me with or am I just gonna sit here and look pretty?" Thor said. She glared at him.

"Will you please take the key out of the pouch? I need to verify something." She said. Thor reluctantly removed the pouch from around his neck and took the key out. He whispered the special words and it returned to its natural size. He handed it to her and she grabbed it and started comparing the key and knife. The key had the same stone in it as the knife. Marilyn furrowed her brow and looked back and forth from the key to the knife.

Thor watched her as she did this and just leaned backed. He didn't know what was happening and decided not to bother her on whatever she was doing. She began to cuss under her breath and frantically compared the two items.

"So like, what's up?" Thor said finally. She looked at him like she had just seen a ghost. She held the knife and the key to him, and he took them. He looked from the knife to the key and began to compare them. They were differently colored through and through, but both had the same stone. He was about to ask her if this was why she was freaking out when she began to dial her phone.

"Alice. We have a problem.”

**

Alexis looked after Marilyn and Thor as they walked out of the room, and back at the guys.

"I wonder what that was all about." She said. The others shrugged and sat at the table in silence.

"What if they're fucking?!" Zach said, giggling. Sam rolled his eyes.

"You're dumb, they're not. This isn't even the place to do that at." Sam said, irritated. Zach looked at him and then smiled more.

"Sam, are you jealous?" He got real close to Sam's face and watched him. Sam kept his face neutral as possible.

"Now why would I be jealous, that doesn't even make any sense." Sam retorted. Zach poked him in the sides and few times and Sam began to bat him away.

"Sam's jealous, guys. I knew it." Zach and Sam continued to bicker. Alexis got up from her spot and walked over to Peter and leaned against the table.

"You know if you want out of whatever Cassius is doing, I'm sure Marilyn wouldn't mind you joining us. I mean, we're the good guys and if we get what we need done, then you won't have to worry about Cassius anymore." She spoke softly, trying to convey that they're weren't Peter's enemy. If anything, they were fighting for him. Peter looked at her and looked away.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I want to stay as uninvolved as possible. Plus Cassius has promised me he would find out some information for me and I really need that." He said.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure we can find it out sooner for you. Peter, this is the side you need to be on. Clearly you aren't happy where you are. This is the chance for you to make things right." She rested her hand on his shoulder. He flinched at the touch but didn't move away. He stared at the ground and thought.

He was just about to speak when Marilyn and Thor reentered the room, faces sullen.

"What's up guys? You don't look too good." Stephen said.

Marilyn and Thor sat down in their spots, handing the knife back to Zach.

"I don't know if this is something we should discuss in front of Peter..." Thor said quietly. Peter began to walk out of the room when Marilyn waved him to sit down.

"It's fine. Chances are Cassius already knows about what I'm about to tell you, so it doesn't matter." She clasped her hands in her lap and looked to her group.

"The reason why our good pal Peter here took the knife... is because it is our only chance of defeating Cassius."

 


	9. Chapter 9

The air became thick with tension. Everyone looked at Marilyn quizzically and waited for her to elaborate.

"What do you mean it's 'our only chance of defeating Cassius?'" Stephen asked. Marilyn gestured for the knife back. She laid it out on the table for them all to see, and pointed to the stone in the knife.

"This stone is the same as the one on the key. If at the right moment and area, we could potentially shatter the key's stone and stop this entire issue." The knife glittered in the light as everyone passed it around and examined it.

"If it's that simple, why not just take care of it now?" Stephen said. Peter looked from Marilyn to Stephen, suddenly very on edge.

"What do you mean take care of it now? You would need the key in order to do that..." He stood slowly. Zach stood up as well, putting himself between him and the rest of the group. The tension from before quickly returned. Everyone watched the silent standoff between Peter and Zach.

"I'm going to give you guys a five minute head start before I alert Cassius of my newfound knowledge." Peter reached for what looked like a radio transmitter clipped to the side of his pocket.

"Peter! You don't have to do this! We can find a way to get your family back and you can be on the good side! Please, you don't understand what's at stake." Alexis pleaded. Peter looked down for a moment, then back up at Alexis.

"Don't understand what's at stake?" He laughed. “My family is at stake! You have four minutes. Better leave now!" Peter yelled.

Everyone grabbed their things and began to head out. Peter sat down at the table as everyone left and pulled out his radio.

"Suspicious group spotted west of Inn we searched the other day. Send a team to look into it."

"Thank you, Peter. I really do appreciate your helpfulness. Your family would be proud." The radio cut out, leaving Peter in silence.

The group quickly made their way out of the cave and back up the side of the waterfall. Conversation was scarce among them. Marilyn headed the group westward towards the next safe house. It was located inside the mountain they were walking beside but it was still a day's worth of walking before they were even close. The ordeal with Peter really took a chunk out of their time.

The sun was beginning to set, giving the forest a dull orange-ish glow. They stopped at a small pond and made a camp for the night under the roots of a big tree that was coming out of the ground. At least if any of Cassius' people walked by, they wouldn't be noticed right away.

A small fire was started and sleeping bags were strewn about under the roots. Thankfully the pond was stocked full of fish so dinner wasn't an issue. Thor and Stephen smoked the fish while the others grabbed more fire wood and anything else they could use for food. Alexis ventured off by herself in hopes of finding berries or anything else besides fish. She hated fish.

The branches and leaves on the forest floor crackled under her weight as she strode through in search of something more. She spotted a small blueberry bush in the moonlight and almost cried as she ran to the bush and began to pick as many as she could hold. When her pockets and hands were full, she stood and began to walk back to camp when she felt eyes on her. She stopped and slowly looked around, scanning the area for anyone in the distance and listened.

The wind lulled through the trees and brush, frogs and other animals could be heard from all directions. Maybe it was just my mind playing tricks? Alexis thought. She shook her head and continued on. As she turned, a dark figure peeked around a tree in the distance.

 

**

Alexis arrived back at camp and everyone had already almost finished their dinner.

"Wow you actually managed to find something." Sam said. He took the last bite of his fish and added the bones to the fire. Alexis sat down next to Stephen and Marilyn and began to chow down. Stephen rolled his eyes as he ate his fish.

"Thor and I cooked this nice meal and you go off and get fucking blueberries." Alexis pouted and elbowed Stephen in the side, causing him to choke on his fish. She smiled and continued to eat.

"Let's tell some ghost stories or something since we're pretty much camping." Thor said as he put his finished fish in the fire. He walked over to the pond and knelt down so he could drink some water.

"Yes!" Alexis said excitedly. Stephen turned and scowled at Alexis.

"You hate being scared and the dark. Why would you want to listen to ghost stories, in the middle of the forest, at night?" Stephen asked. Alexis shrugged and continued to eat. Stephen sighed exasperatedly.

"Maybe we can talk about ourselves so we can get to know one another better?" Marilyn suggested. She laid on her sleeping bag and put her arms behind her head. She looked up at the stars through the trees roots. Being out here was kind of peaceful if you looked past why they were here.

"Sure, that sounds like something that won't have Alexis waking up in the middle of the night spooked." Sam said. Alexis flipped him off, but laughed.

"I'll start. My names Marilyn. I'm twenty five years old and my favorite color is lilac." She began.

"This sounds like an AA meeting."

"Shut the fuck up, Sam. Go."

“My name is Sam. I'm twenty two years old, I like selling things and this sounds like an AA meeting." Zach smacked Sam in the face and sat on him.

“Zach, I'm twenty two years old, and Sam's a fag." He continued to sit on Sam until Sam decided to push him off. Zach fell over but quickly got up and sat on Sam again. Marilyn giggled and looked at Alexis.

"Oh yeah it's my turn. I'm Alexis, I am twenty two years old and I love fruit." She plopped a blueberry in her mouth and nudged Stephen to go. He nudged her back and spoke.

"I'm Stephen, I'm twenty two years old, and I like swords and knives or anything sharp really." He pulled out his sword and kissed it.

"Well I guess that leaves me. I'm Thor, I'm twenty two years old and I love to draw and paint. I'm sure most of you know that since I've seen you all in my shop. Sam and Zach are my favorite customers." Thor narrowed his eyes at Sam and Zach at the last part. Zach stuck his tongue out and Sam just nodded.

They all talked for what seemed like hours, they laughed, they (Alexis) cried, and bonded over the night sky and fire in front of them.

"As much as I love shooting the breeze, is it ok for us to clock out now?” Thor asked. Laying on his side, propping his head up onto his hand.

"I mean, we're gonna be spending a lot of time with each other for the next month or so, I thought if we were all on the same page with each other and were friendly, it would be nice. But if you want to be boring, please do go to bed." Marilyn said, her words curt. Thor, caught off guard, sat back up. Gesturing for her to continue. "That's what I thought, anyway, I also wanted to discuss what we're going to do about this Peter situation. I think we should be on a little bit more alert than usual, and make sure we're staying in groups and not wandering off. We're going to have to cross through the Labyrinth Forest to get to the next safe house, and that is going to be difficult. The forest was charmed long ago and causes those who walk through to become confused. So we need to be stuck at the hip with each other so we don't get lost."

"What happens if we do get lost? Do we have some plan for that?" Sam asked.

"Before we take off in the morning, I'm going to enchant all of your guys' crystals as well as mine so that they're drawn to each other. If we are separated, they will point us in the right direction when held up." Marilyn removed her headband and set it beside her sleeping bag and she moved into it. "Well I suppose it is time for us to sleep. Goodnight all. Hopefully we can make tomorrow a successful day."

**

They were all woken up by the sound of rain. They were shielded from it by the roots of the tree as well as the dirt and grass that had grown over them. Marilyn, like always, was the first to wake up. She laid there for a moment, listening to the sound of the rain. She wondered how long this trip would actually take. Alice had told her even with a few setbacks that the trip would only be a month. But Marilyn was skeptical. Alice had never lied to her before. Why was she worrying?

Marilyn removed herself from her sleeping bag quietly and walked over to the pond and knelled down. She rinsed her face and took a few drinks of water. Gazing at the reflection in the pond, she examined her face. She looked too wise to be twenty five. Maybe thirty. Being in this kind of business probably took years off her life and it was already catching up.

The others began to stir as Marilyn started tidying up the camp. She removed the fire wood and scattered rocks and branches so it seemed like it wasn't a camp site. Sam and Zach rolled up the sleeping bags while Alexis, Thor, and Stephen helped Marilyn with making the campsite 'dirty' again. The rain persisted as they did this and when they finished, they were thoroughly soaked. Before they left, Marilyn took everyone's crystals and mumbled a few words and the crystals all began to glow and gravitate towards each other.

"Now we will always be able to find our way back to each other." She handed the crystals back and they left.

**

The sun rose in the sky as they walked, the rain slowly turning into mist. The air smelled of fresh rain and flowers, and steam rose from the ground. The Labyrinth Forest wasn't too far up ahead. It looked no different than the part of the forest they were in now, except the leaves, grass, and everything green was a lighter shade of green. Marilyn stopped the group before they stepped foot in and turned to them.

"Remember. If we get lost, the crystals will guide you if anything goes wrong. Are we good to go?" Everyone nodded. "Alright, we're off."

They walked over the marker for the forest. Nothing felt different at first, but as they walked, their minds became fuzzy. The air was thick and hard to breathe. Their pace slowed but they continued on. The pathway narrowed and split off into multiple directions. Marilyn took out a map and checked to see which way they needed to go.

"We're going to veer off to the right and walk for a while, then veer back to the left and continue on until we reach the waterfall. There, we can take the zip line down to the bottom and get to our destination. Stay close."

Marilyn headed the group while Alexis was at the end. She had gotten the feeling of someone watching her again once they entered into the forest but she thought it was just the Labyrinth getting to her. She crossed her arms as she walked and looked at the ground. She just wanted to get to the damn waterfall and out of here. The others had been super quiet when she looked up and they were gone. She stopped in her tracks and looked around. She couldn't see anyone through the bushes.

"Guys? Guys! Where are you?" She called out. She heard a rustle in the bushes behind her when a masked man appeared, the rebel emblem on his chest. He took out a sword and slowly approached her. She began to back away slowly when someone grabbed her from behind. She screamed and wiggled out of the other man’s grip and began to run. She took her scythe from her garter belt and cocked it while she ran. She looked behind her to see the men not too far behind. She jumped onto a rock and twisted around and shot at both of them. She got one of them in the knee causing him to falter and the other in the shoulder. Even while shot, he kept running. Alexis tucked and rolled and started running again. She began to hear the waterfall and hoped her friends were there to help her.

**

Thor walked fast to match Marilyn in her pace. She was zoned out and didn't even realize he was next to her until he waved his hand in her face.

"What? What is it?" She asked.

"Nothing, you just looked super zoned out and wanted to make sure you were okay." He replied. They walked beside each other in silence. Marilyn glanced at Thor from her peripheral to see him catching glances. She smiled. She began to speak right as Thor began as well. They both stopped and gestured the other one to talk but then laughed instead. Marilyn began to try again once more when Sam hurriedly raced to the front.

"Alexis is gone!" He yelled. Marilyn looked behind them all and didn't see her. She grabbed her crystal and mouthed a few words and the stone began to gravitate in the direction they were going, almost as if she had surpassed them.

"She's this way! Let's go!" The group began to run in the direction when they were stopped by rebels jumping out of the bushes. Sam and Stephen unsheathed their swords and ran past Marilyn to charge at the rebels. Stephen tapped the elemental button on the hilt and the sword became engulfed in thorns. The rebels both had gauntlets like Zach and braced themselves. Sam and Stephen swung at the rebels, and hitting them in the sides. They yelled in pain and punched their way through the boys, just to run into Marilyn and her blades. She threw up her wrists, slicing their throats. They fell to the ground as three more popped up from the bushes, tackling Zach and Thor to the ground.

Zach began to yell and push the guys off of him. He squeezed his hands and the gauntlets became bigger and he started punching. Thor grabbed an arrow from his pack and stabbed one of the guys in the eye. The man yelled and gripped his face as Thor shoved it in deeper. He wiggled put from under the man and began to kick him. Zach punched the other man in the face a few more times until he didn't get up anymore. They heard faint yelling that sounded like a woman in the distance. They took care of the other man and ran towards the yelling.

**

They made their way to the clearing to see Alexis backed up on the edge of the waterfall. Wielding her scythe to block the men coming near her, she cried for help.

"Guys please! I have nowhere else to go..." She swiped at the men and held her ground. The group charged at the men, coming to Alexis' defense. Stephen speared one of the men and threw him over the waterfall, sending him to his death. Thor from a far drew an arrow, sending it directly into someone's ribs.

They cleared out the men surrounding Alexis and finally caught their breath. The water was tinted red from all the blood. They gathered near Alexis to make sure she was okay.

"I don't know how I got lost. I looked down one second and then you were all gone." She said.

"The Labyrinth Forest sure is tricky." Thor piped in.

"We just have to make sure to stick together and be more vigilant." Marilyn said, pushing her blades back into place. "Alexis, are you hurt or anything?"

"I'm fine. Luckily, nothing bad happened while I wa-" Alexis was caught off by a glowing, translucent arrow going directly in the center of her chest. Sending her careening off the side of the cliff and into the water below.

 


	10. Chapter 10

“No!” The group cried as their friend fell into the abyss below. The roar of the waterfall raged on over their voices. Sam and Thor held Stephen back as he tried to look over the waterfall.

“Maybe she survived! Don’t the crystals we have protect us from harm? We have to go check!” Stephen pleaded. Their chests ached with pain for him as well as themselves. They had all just lost a good friend after all. Marilyn walked to the edge of the cliff and glanced down. There was a small pool of overflow water and bushes. She could have survived if the arrow didn’t pierce her heart. But even that was a long shot. She turned back to the group and pointed to the zip line.

“Let’s hurry and take the zip line down, if she did survive, she’ll need medical attention immediately. Let’s go!” Marilyn said.

The group ran to the zip line and one by one they slid down the long line. The view going down was beautiful, despite the circumstances.

The zip line ended on the opposite side of the reservoir, so they all had to swim to the other side to get to where Alexis had landed.

The sun beat down on them as they reached the ground. Stephen, Sam, and Marilyn waded through the water while Thor and Zach waited by the zip line for their return. Stephen and Sam called for Alexis while Marilyn began cutting down bushes with her blades. Marilyn walked farther into the shrubbery towards the side of the cliff. She stepped behind a tree to find a few broken branches and a small pool of blood. She knelt down to examine the area when Stephen and Sam walked over.

“…Is that blood?” He asked. Marilyn nodded. She noticed a trail of blood leading away and stood. She motioned for Stephen and Sam to follow and they slowly walked along.

They heard rustling in the bushes and stopped. They all looked at each other and listened. Whispers could be heard and then some kind of metal door opening. Marilyn, Sam, and Stephen began to walk towards the sounds, as they got closer they heard something like an engine roar to life. They started running forward through the bushes and trees until they entered a clearing. A helicopter picked up speed as men carried Alexis’ lifeless body and loaded it into the helicopter.

“Hey! Give her back!” Stephen yelled. He began to run towards the helicopter and unsheathed his sword, Sam following suit. The men scrambled to get in as he got closer. They shut the door and began to lift off. Thor and Zach appeared a few yards away from where Marilyn was. They ran after the boys as they jumped and swung at the helicopter. Stephen grabbed the landing rails of the helicopter with his free hand and tried to hold on as the helicopter lifted off. The guys yelled for him from under.

“What the hell is he doing!?” Sam said. The helicopter teetered at the suddenly offset of weight.

“The dumbass is gonna kill himself.” Thor yelled back. The helicopter turned and began to wiggle in different directions. Stephens grip loosened and he dropped his sword before he let go of the helicopter. The guys gathered close together, preparing to catch him.

“We got you!” Zach yelled. Stephen fell into the guys and then they all fell on the ground. The thickness of the grass cushioned their fall. Marilyn ran over and helped them all up.

“Are you guys alright?” She asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. They have her.” Stephen said. The guys looked at each other confused and back at Stephen.

“The guys that were in that helicopter had Alexis. They found her before us and took her with them.” Marilyn took out her phone and punched a few buttons and held up her phone.

“Keep a look out for an all-black helicopter. They have one of ours. She has long black hair and was last wearing a sun dress and black boots. She has a compactable scythe with her. Let me know if you find anything.” She hung up and looked to the group.

“We’ll have eyes in the sky within ten minutes. We can follow the direction it was going or make out way to the next safe house and see what happens from there.” Marilyn said.

“I think we should follow the helicopter. Their base could be around here or we might find someone that knows where it’s going.” Sam turned towards the direction the helicopter disappeared to and began to walk. Marilyn and the guys looked at one another and began to follow suit.

She had to be alive. She just had to be.

 **

Alexis wavered in and out of conciseness. All she remembered was the look on her friends’ faces as she was struck. She remembered falling. And she remembered feeling nothing. But suddenly pain filled her entire body and mind. Her body felt like she had fallen to her doom, oh wait. Her head pounded as well and the sound of helicopter blades turning didn’t help either. Wait. Helicopter blades? When did she get on a helicopter? How long was she out? She struggled to open her eyes. She was laying on the ground, a thin blanket under her. She tried to move her arm but it hurt too badly to move. She tilted her head slightly to see two men sitting in the cockpit. They talked loudly over the blades.

“So why are we taking this girl for Cassius?” One said.

“I’ve said this literally time and time again. We just needed only one of them so we could lure the rest to where we wanted them. It’s not that complicated.” The other replied.

Alexis panicked at his words and used the rest of the energy she had to reach for her phone. She slowly felt around her utility belt for it when she realized her belt was gone. She groaned in pain and frustration.

“I think she’s coming to. Should we give her another dose?” The co-pilot asked.

“Nah, Cassius is going to want her lucid and aware. I don’t know what he has planned exactly so I don’t want to do anything that wasn’t asked specifically.” The helicopter began to descend. Alexis rolled herself onto her stomach with the help of the shaky helicopter and tried to push herself up. She needed to at least be able to start running when they landed. As the helicopter slowed to land, Alexis pushed herself up but fell back down with the turbulence of landing. She was too weak. She cursed under her breathe and tried once more.

“Look, Devante, she’s trying to escape. I told you we should have dosed her again.” The co-pilot walked towards Alexis and grabbed her by the arm and began to pull her up. The pilot named Devante rolled his eyes and opened the door.

“Chase, shut the fuck up.” He walked over and grabbed Alexis’ other arm and they walked her out of the helicopter out onto a landing platform hidden in the treetops.

A tall man in all black stood with armed guards. Alexis knew by his smug face that he was none other than the shitbeast named Cassius. They walked up to him and Cassius chuckled. Cassius reached out and tilted Alexis’ face towards him. She held eye contact and glared.

“Why hello there. And what might your name be? I’m Cassius, but I’m sure you know that.” He said softly. Alexis stayed silent but looked away. Cassius chuckled again and removed his hand. “In due time, my dear. Take her to her new quarters. I want her to be comfortable.” He walked to a stair way that led down into what looked like a jungle and disappeared with multiple guards. The pilots groaned and began to walk/drag Alexis down stairs that were opposite the ones Cassius went down. They then made their way into a pair of double doors. The corridor opened to a pair of stairs that were dark and long and seemed to go down forever, or maybe that was just because Alexis was slipping in and out of consciousness. Alexis looked back and forth from the pilots, trying to imprint their features in her mind so she would remember to kick their asses.

They reached another pair of doors and entered in what looked like a hotel lobby. There was a main front desk with an older man typing away on a desktop, as well as a young woman with dark hair filing something, who looked to the guards and Alexis. The other people in the lobby seemed to stop talking to rubberneck what was happening. The guards and Alexis walked through the lobby and reached another hallway, entering the first door on the right.

The room was small and had two floor to ceiling windows, parallel with the night stands next to the bed that faced a terrarium. There was a couch to the right as you walked into the room, and a dresser that had a mirror above it. There was a door next to the dresser which she assumed lead to a closet or bathroom. They walked over to the bed and laid her down.

“You should feel fine in no time. Don’t try to move and hurt yourself. See you around.” The pilots left the room finally and Alexis was left to the sound of the lobby, the rain that began to pour outside, and the clicking of the door’s lock. Alexis stared at the ceiling. She needed to find a way out but she was pretty sure she had nothing on her, unless they forgot to remove her scythe. She reached for her thigh and didn’t feel it. Fuck.

She laid there for what felt like hours, and finally, the feeling of being hit by a train subsided. Rising from the bed, Alexis walked over to the mirror to assess the damage. Her dress was torn in a few places and her hair was a mess. She looked at her chest and saw a small circle shaped imprint. She traced it with her fingers and felt a tenderness to it. Was she actually shot? Or was that an illusion?

She began to open the dresser drawers to see if there were any spare clothes. Both fortunately and unfortunately, they knew she would be there and had stocked the room with rebel uniforms. This could come in handy for trying to escape, she thought. She grabbed some clothes to change into and walked into what she hoped was the bathroom. The door creaked open and she flipped the light switch on.

The bathroom was on the smaller side. Alexis laid the change of clothes out on the counter and turned on the shower. The water was already warm by the time she undressed. It felt nice to have an actual shower and not just taking a swim in a cold pond like she had done last night with Marilyn. She lost herself in her thoughts.

**

Marilyn had asked Alexis after dinner if she would be a look out so Marilyn could bathe. Alexis had agreed, and made sure to arm herself with her scythe so the boys wouldn’t try to sneak a peek.

“So how long have you known Stephen?” Marilyn had asked. She dunked the back of her head into the water quickly, as the water was sort of cold.

“A few years now. He had advertised about wanting someone to help teach fighting classes in the warehouse that’s connected to his shop, and I was like, well, I’m an ex-Royal Guard, I can show people a thing or two, and it’s all history from there.” Alexis sat against a rock, facing away from Marilyn, tapping her fingers against the rock.

Marilyn stayed quiet for a moment, lathering up a washing cloth she brought with some soap.

“I’m surprised you and I have never met then, since we both worked at the same place.” Alexis said, almost turning to look at Marilyn, but stopping herself, remembering Marilyn was stark naked.

“I’ve always been a very behind the scenes kind of person. I’m sure it was strategic that we have never met until just these past few days. Do you want to bathe as well? I feel bad that I dragged you all the way out here.” Marilyn said.

“Well who would be the look out?” Alexis said, laughing.

“If they try to come near here, I’ll shoot them.” Marilyn said, laughing, but she was also clearly serious. Alexis thought for a second, shrugged, stripped down, and hopped in.

**

After the shower, she began to probe the entire room for any means of escape. The window didn't have any kind of opening and the front door was shut tight. She grabbed a bobby pin from her hair and tried to pick the lock when she heard someone step into the hallway and fumble with some keys. She leaped for her bed and waited.

The door knob turned and in entered Cassius. Alexis rolled her eyes and looked out the window.

"No warm welcome now that you have control of your body? How sad." He shut the door and locked it, then walked over to the couch and sat down. He eyed Alexis carefully, which made her turn her attention to him finally.

"I'm going to be found and you're going to be sorry. Or just wait until I find my scythe and I'll kick your ass myself." She said, face getting red with anger. He smirked at her remark which made her even madder.

"Relax. I feel as though once we're done talking and I show you around our facility, you'll come to like it here..." He trailed off. Alexis studied the man's face. What was he getting at? It didn't matter. She wouldn't be here long enough to find out what he meant. Cassius stood and put his hand on his hip, pushing back his coat to reveal what looked like a gun.

"Please, if you'll follow me. I think it would be nice to take a walk." Alexis stood slowly and followed Cassius out of her room.

They walked through more hallways and corridors and it seemed like a maze.

"Alexis do you know what I do?" He asked as they walked. Alexis looked straight ahead as she spoke, refusing to look at him.

"You kill innocent people to get what you want and you think you deserve. You make empty promises and are a horrible person. Did I miss anything?" She said coolly. He chuckled at that which made Alexis scoff.

"Oh how cute, I wonder what tall tales Alice has filed your head with. Oh how I miss my dear baby sister." He said. "But don't worry, you'll know the truth in what I do in no time."

He guided her into a small media room that had a few guards in it as well as a few office workers. They looked normal enough, which was scary. If even on their base they dress like normal people, how can they pick them out in the city?

As they entered, Cassius motioned Alexis to sit at the table in the middle of the room. She sat down reluctantly.

"Please sit all the way back, please, relax my dear. If you're good, maybe we can call your little friends and say hi." He said with a smile. Alexis glared at him but did as she was told. If they contacted the group maybe she could yell out some things to let them know where she was.

She sat back all the way in the chair and rested her arms on the arms of the chair, which she would soon regret. The chair strapped her back, and arms to the chair. She struggled and yelled out.

"Hey! Let me go! I was listening to you! What gives?" She cursed under her breath for doing what he said.

"Since you listened, will call you friends. How about that? I have something to tell them anyways." Cassius walked over to a computer and began typing things in. The screen in the front of the room blinked on and suddenly it looked like a big phone. There was a dial tone and ringing when suddenly her friends were on the screen.

"Alexis! You're alive!" Marilyn yelled. The rest of them cheered in happiness.

"Yeah! I don't know what happened but I woke up on a helicopter and couldn't move, and-" She was cut off.

"Please, we can save the reunion for another time. We have business to attend to." Cassius walked over to the side of Alexis so he could be in frame.

"Let her go you sick fuck, she didn't do anything." Zach chimed in.

"Your group has such foul mouths... Anyway, I have a proposition for you." He spoke directly to Marilyn at this point. She moved to the front of the group to speak.

"We aren't interested in giving you anything." She said.

"Oh well, that's a shame, because I have something you want." He motioned to Alexis. Marilyn narrowed her eyes at him.

"Let's cut to the chase. If you hand over the key and dagger, I'll give you back this sweetie pie. If you decide to reject my deal, let's just say I'll just have to ask Alexis to get it for me..." He paced behind the chair Alexis was in and waited for a response.

"They aren't going to give you shit. The fate of the world is more important than my measly life. Guys, whatever happens to me, do not give him anything." Alexis said. She began to tear thinking at the thought that he may kill her but she needed to be strong. What's one life for the entire planet and its inhabitants? Her thoughts were interrupted.

"Well, I need to hear it from them. Do you refuse my deal? I promise to return her untouched and unscratched." He rest his arm on the top of the chair and placed his head in his hand, waiting. The group looked at one another and looked saddened.

"No you don't, I'm part of the group too. They say no. Got it? Good. No get whatever it is you're gonna do over with." Alexis yelled. She looked at her friends and closed her eyes, trying harder to not cry.

"Well if you insist. I guess Alexis will just have to help me take it from you instead. I have a feeling she's about to have a change of heart." He grabbed what looked like a huge syringe full of black liquid off of a metal tray, from a man dressed in a lab coat and walked behind the chair. He gently moved Alexis’ head to the side and moved her hair so her neck was exposed.

"Don't you fucking touch her!" The group yelled. Cassius merely smiled at them.

"Well she decided for you guys. It's a shame that we couldn't be adults about this." Cassius slowly stuck the syringe into Alexis' neck and injected her with the serum. She gasped out in pain.

"Don't move so much, love, it'll only hurt worse for you." He whispered to her. She cussed him out with what energy she had left. He squeezed the last bit of the serum in her neck and pulled out the syringe. She slowly went limp and became unconscious. He gave the empty syringe back to one of the lab coat wearing men and stepped in front of the chair.

"I'm sure you're wondering what I just did to Alexis, and I would be happy to tell you. For months we've been perfecting the ultimate weapon. Every person has soul that is composed of good and bad, and well... It seems we've learned how to harness the bad. I just injected with something that will turn her soul black. The serum will work its way throughout her entire body over time until there's no good left in her. Little by little she will become an entirely new person. She won't feel anything killing you all and ruling with me and our army.” Cassius stopped for a moment and looked at Alexis behind him, she had begun to stir a little bit. “Hold on, I think she's coming to."

Cassius stepped aside and brushed Alexis' hair out of her face. She slowly opened her but when she looked at her friends, her demeanor was that of ice. She eyes were pure black.

"Alexis, please tell me. What exactly are we gonna do to get the key and knife back from your pals?" He rested his hand back on the chair.

"We'll do whatever it takes. But preferably, I would love to watch the life leave all of their eyes, one by one." She smiled, but it faltered, her falling unconscious once more. When she came to, she scrunched her eyes and shook her head. Her eyes were no longer black, they we're back to normal.

“Wha-What just happened? What did you do to me?!” Alexis yelled, struggling to get free from her chair. Cassius looked smugly at Alexis, then to the video call. The internal struggle over good and evil had already begun.

 


	11. Chapter 11

Alexis jerked in her chair, attempting to get free. She vaguely heard what Cassius said when she was momentarily passed out. Injected with pure evil? How did they even make that? She needed to get out of here, and find any information she could get her hands on along the way. Her thoughts were interrupted by Cassius undoing the chairs locks.

  
"I'm sorry if that hurt, sometimes I get a little theatric when I'm excited. I do hope you forgive me." He smiled at Alexis and undid the last lock. Alexis rubbed her wrists and glared at him. He chuckled and grabbed her by the arm gently and headed back towards where they came.

  
"How long until this serum takes full effect?" She asked, sullen. She was scared, to say the least, but she wasn't going to let that shitbeast know that. They walked in pace through the corridors. Guards passed them and waved at Cassius, who smiled and nodded at them. Alexis felt sick to her stomach.

 

"Since we aren't in front of your friends, I can be a little less cryptic. You'll phase in and out of good and evil until your body has fully absorbed the serum. Then you'll fully be on my side." Cassius' fingers ran down Alexis' arm and she shivered.

She was about two seconds away from ripping his arm off and beating him with it when they rounded the last corner and arrived at her room. He fumbled around for his keys and chuckled lightly. He finally found them and unlocked the door, motioning for her to go in. She eyed him and walked in.

  
"I hope you have a good night. Orientation and training will start tomorrow at nine in the morning. I'll send someone for you. See you later." He smiled warmly before shutting the door, and unfortunately not forgetting to lock it either. She walked over to the bed and sat down. Tears began to stream down her face as she replayed today's events in her mind. She didn't want to kill her friends. She didn't want to be evil. She drooped down onto the bed and tightly clutched a pillow. The sound of thunder, lightning, and a rainstorm filled her mind and she drifted off to sleep.

**

  
"What are we going to do? If this is an experimental serum there is no way we're going to be able to find a way to reverse it in time." Marilyn said, easing into her chair. The group had made their way to the next safe house spot after combing the area for what seemed like hours. They had tried to use their crystals Alice had given them to find Alexis, but either Alexis’ crystal had broken, or Cassius’ headquarters had been sealed with strong magic, so the magic in the crystals couldn’t penetrate it. After a while they decided to call it a day and head to the safe house, they needed rest and food. Once they had made it to house and had eaten, they began to think of a plan of action, when Marilyn received the video call from Cassius. Marilyn's phone was projecting a hurt Alexis and a smug Cassius on the wall, when he injected her. They cried out for her when the video cut out.

"We could try to break into their facility and see if we can convince one of their scientists to make an antidote?" Sam suggested, leaning back in his chair to rest his feet on the desk. The others stayed silent, thinking over the idea in their minds. That could work. But there was also no guarantee that they would be willing to work with them. Marilyn paced the room around the guys.

"But we don't know where that is. And who knows if we would make it in time to save her. I don't know Alexis as well as some of you do, but if it were me, I would want my friends to just take care of me before I did anything bad to my friends." Marilyn stared outside as she said this, avoiding eye contact with everyone, but also remembering the bonding they did at the pond the other night. She didn't want to see the look on their eyes as she suggested the worst. The thunder and lightning roared on and rain plastered the window.

She looked to the guys and all of their faces were sullen. They didn't like the idea that they would have to take out one of their own but maybe it was coming to that. It was like some horror movie when one of the group members gets bit by a zombie. You either left them to turn or you took them out.

"I think Marilyn has a point..." Stephen said finally, breaking the silence. Marilyn looked at Stephen in surprise. He was the last person she thought would agree with her. Thor slowly nodded his head. Sam looked between the three in shock. Zach stayed silent and looked at Sam expectantly.

"So you guys are just going to give up? That's it? We have to try to save her. That's what friends do for each other." Sam said, clearly upset by how quickly everyone had turned on Alexis. Zach smirked a bit before he spoke.

"I'm gonna have to go with Sam on this one. Friends," He lingered on the word and looked at Sam. "Look out for each other and do whatever they can to help them. In this case, we have to go save her from fuck boy and company." Zach crossed his arms and rested them on the table. Marilyn looked back out the window, deep in thought.

"Let's just cross the bridge when we get there, eh? We're all tired so we might as well get some sleep and hash it out in the morning." Thor said. He stood from his seat and stretched, yawning in the process. Everyone nodded. The guys pushed in their chairs and headed out of the conference room and towards the bedrooms for the night. Marilyn waved them off, still wanting to lull the day over in her mind. She needed to remember everything she could about the helicopter and the direction it went so they had a better chance at finding Alexis tomorrow. Her thoughts were interrupted when Sam tapped her shoulder.

"Something on your mind?" She asked.

"There is a chance we can save her, right? I'm not just hoping for nothing?" He looked tired and stressed, they all had, but him more so. She offered him a small smile and nod.

"I think if we band together and really start to build trust between all of us, I think we can do anything. Especially saving Alexis. But right now, we should try to get some sleep, shall we?" She motioned for Sam to lead the way back to the bedrooms. He smiled weakly but nodded.

Once everyone made it to their respectable bedrooms, they all fell fast asleep, listening to the storm raging on through the night.

**

There was a loud knock on Alexis' door.

"Wake up sunshine, time to start your first day of training." Cassius voice filled the room as he opened the door. Alexis rubbed her eyes and sat up. She looked at Cassius and her spirits fell when she remembered where she was. She was dreaming of being back home and running the store. How she wished she was back there.

"I've brought you some clothing specifically made to help you train today. I'll be back in twenty minutes. Be ready then." He laid the clothes at the edge of the bed and walked out, not forgetting to lock the door. Alexis grabbed a pillow and yelled into it before grabbing the clothes and making her way into the bathroom to shower. She wasn't sure of what to make of Cassius. From what she had heard he was supposed to be this dastardly, horrible person that thought of no one but himself. But even the short amount of time she's been in his presence, he seemed like a normal guy that was just a little on the loopy side.

She pushed that thought out of her head. Normalizing him was the last thing she needed to be thinking about. She got out of the shower and put on the special training clothes. They seemed like a normal pair of clothes. As she pulled the last piece of the clothes one, Cassius knocked and reentered the room.

"All ready?" He stopped by the door, holding it open. Alexis stood and crossed her arms.

"I mean I guess." She walked past him out the door and waited for him to guide her. She didn't want to risk escaping right now.

They began to walk down the same hallway they did yesterday but instead of entering the door they had, they continued on. Cassius walked with his head up and his arms behind his back. He took long strides so Alexis had to walk fast to keep up. It was like a penguin trying to walk with a horse.

They went through and pair of double doors and entered into a huge room, part gymnasium, part training platform. The ceilings were high as well were the lights, illuminating the room perfectly. There were guards near every door much to Alexis' dismay. Cassius lead Alexis to the training platform and walked over to a table with numerous weapons on it. He picked up a staff and handed it to Alexis, grabbing one for himself as well. He stepped onto the platform and faced Alexis.

"Today we're going to get your blood pumping and get you started on our training regimen. Are you ready?" He said, taking a defensive stance. Alexis rolled her eyes and took the offensive.

"Go ahead, take a shot. I want to see what you know."

Alexis began to move slowly, then broke into a sprint. She held the staff close to her and as she was mere feet from Cassius, she jumped over him. She spun around to take a shot at him. The end of her staff connected with the side of his jaw, sending him down to the ground. Alexis landed and rolled, quickly facing him.

Cassius laid in a crumpled pile on the floor for second before slowly standing up. He reached up and massaged his jaw, turning to face Alexis. His guards began to approach with their weapons drawn, when Cassius waved his hand for them to return to their posts. Cassius chuckled before taking a defensive stance again.

"This is going to be interesting."

**

They went back and forth. Alexis got a few more shots on Cassius before he stepped up his game. He sent Alexis falling many times before they moved onto the next task. He led Alexis to what looked like a giant glass cube with little guns in each corner. He handed Alexis a helmet and opened the door to the cube. She stepped in and put on the helmet. Cassius shut the door behind her and walked over to a control panel.

"Stand in the middle of the room please, dear." Cassius spoke over the intercom. Alexis did as she told and waited.

"I want to test your agility. Each of the guns in either corner are locked into you. Dodge them. Go!" The guns locked onto Alexis and began to power up. Alexis crouched down to run when the first gun went off. Alexis rolled and ran around the cube. The guns started at a slow pace but then began to pick up their pace. Alexis was running for her life at this point. What was he trying to do? He wanted to use her as a super weapon but was now trying to kill her.

The guns began to slow down and eventually stopped. Alexis stood, hunched over and out of breathe. She looked up to Cassius to say something when one of the guns behind her went off. The bullet hit her straight on her left shoulder. She hit the floor limp and slid.

When Alexis opened her eyes, they were black. She slowly pushed herself up and rose from the floor, keeping her eyes down. While she was out, Cassius had sent a guard in to place a sword next to her. The guard held a sword as well. Alexis snapped up to look at the guard. The guard slowly backed away and made his way to the door, when the locks turned. The guard tried to open the door but couldn't.

"Alexis, this man was the one that was in charge of the guns. He's the one that let that stray bullet hit you. I'm sure it hurt. Why don't you teach him a lesson?" Cassius purred over the intercom. Alexis looked at the sword next to her, then back at the guard, slowly crouching down and gripping the sword. The guard banged on the door and yelled for help.

Alexis began to walk toward the guard, lifting the sword up. He turned around and took a defensive stance and began to strafe the wall, trying to get away from Alexis. She began to quicken her pace which caused the guard to start running. Alexis jumped and swung her sword at him, slicing him in his leg. He fell to the ground and yelled out in pain. He stood once again to limp away, but didn't get far. Alexis stabbed her sword through his chest. He fell to the ground lifeless, letting out a gurgling sound.

Alexis released the sword, letting it stay in the man’s back, and walked towards where Cassius was outside of the cube. She walked right up to him, staring at him. Cassius walked up to the glass as well. They stayed like that for a few seconds before Alexis’ eyes changed. She fell to her knees and pressed her hands to her head. She rubbed her eyes and looked around to see the lifeless guard on the ground behind her, and blood on her hands.

"N-no... What happened?" She had to rip her eyes from the sight of the guard and back to Cassius.

"Oh do you not remember? He let the guns go off and hit you, so you took care of it. An eye for an eye, and all that jazz." He pressed a button and the door unlocked. He called a few other guards over to dispose of the dead guard. Cassius waited for them to exit and motioned for Alexis to come out.

"If he supposedly shot me, why don't I have a bullet wound right now?" Alexis felt her shoulder and didn't feel a thing, besides maybe a bruise coming in.

"Oh yes, I forgot to mention. Your training wear is bullet proof, blade proof, etc. etc." He said. He began to walk her back to her room.

"So you're saying I just killed that man for no reason...?" She said with disbelief. Cassius hummed a bit and turned to her.

"It wasn't for no reason. What I just witnessed is valuable information. As well as knowing that once your adrenaline kicks in and your blood starts flowing, the serum helps your body react to potential danger. I'll have to tell the guys in the lab about this discovery..." He lost himself in thought for a moment before returning to his long strides. Alexis gaped at him in disgust, but followed him. She needed to get into contact with her friends, and fast.

 


	12. Chapter 12

The sun began to peer through the window of Marilyns room. She shifted onto her back and stared at the ceiling, quickly replaying the past few days in her mind. In all honesty, she was doubtful that they would get Alexis back. She knew it was not going to end pretty, but she didn’t have the heart to tell the guys her thoughts. She had been on numerous missions that were like this one. And not a single one ended well. 

Her first mission was about 3 years ago. She was just recently brought on board for the special division for the Union of Nion. She had enlisted into the Guardianship as soon as she was able. 

The mission was to take care of a group of thieves hiding in a cave just a few miles outside of the south west entrance into the city. They had ransacked a few caravans coming out of the city and it was time that they were dealt with. 

Marilyn followed close behind her team, keeping an eye out at the back of the pack. She was with 3 other guards. 

There was Shea, a fierce Spanish woman. She was 6’2” and could curb stomp any person standing in her way within 5 seconds. 

Next was Renly, the most silent man Marilyn had ever met. He was often assigned to lookout, since he was rarely noticed by anyone (even sometimes his team would forget he was there.)

And last there was Loren, the “muscle” of the group (which was regular contested by Shea.) He was loud and proud, and had never lost a battle with rebels in his life. 

They happened upon the cave around nightfall. Dim light came from the caves opening, smoke lightly pouring out. They slowly trekked through the brush, making sure to not make any noise that could alert their target. 

They hugged the outer part of the cave. Shea, leading the group, looked at her team mates and nodded. They all got into formation. Shea was going to lure them with her looks, enticing them to walk out of the cave to help a poor, defenseless woman find her way back to the city. As they would get closer to the opening, Loren and Renly would rush them, and Marilyn would hang back and snipe them from afar incase things went south. They needed a backup, just in case. 

Marilyn got to her position, a few yards away from the opening and set up her sniper onto a fallen tree and hid in the bushes. Shea waited for her to give a thumbs up and the curtain lifted. 

Shea put on her best distressed look and ruffled her hair a little bit to get with the act. She walked into the cave and went to put on the biggest show of her life when she looked into the cave.

There was no one there. Just an empty cave with a smoldering fire. She continued with her show, just in case they were around but not in sight.

“Hello?! Anyone there?! My group left me in the forest and I can’t seem to find my way back.” She let out a few sniffles for good measure. She began to walk into the cave when two men walked out from a little nook in the back of the cave. 

“Oh thank goodness! I was so scared. Do you guys know the way back to the city?” She purred. She batted her doe eyes at them. The men didn’t seem amused, almost as if they were lifeless. They walked over to her and that’s when Renly and Loren rushed into the cave to put on the final performance when a third man came out from the nook, a pistol in hand.

Before any of them could act, the man shot Loren in the forehead. His lifeless body falling to the ground like a ton of bricks. Shea yelled and went to throw a punch when the man closest to her pulled out a small dagger and jammed it right into Sheas side. She gaped at him and tried to stay up and fight but could not. She collapsed onto Loren, gasping for air. Renly took out his sword to stand off with the three men.

Marilyn fumbled with the sniper when someone grabbed the back of her hair and hit her with something, sending her into a deep sleep. She dreamt of her family.

Marilyn had a good childhood. Loving parents and an older sister and brother. Twins. Her father had served in the Guardianship since before she was born. Her dad wasn’t there much as a result, but when he was, that’s where her fondest memories came from. 

Until one day. She had just gotten home from school when she noticed a guardian patrol ship in front of her house. She ran up the steps into the house, eager to greet her dad. He was home early this time from an expedition. She happened upon her mother crying, her sister and brother sitting next to her on either side, crying as well. One of the guardians she was familiar with noticed her. His name was Andrew and he was always so nice to her. He walked over to her and kneeled down to her level, taking her hands in his. 

“I’m so sorry Mar. Your dad was out on a mission and we were not able to recover him.” He pulled her into a hug. Marilyn stared at the floor, comatose. The words I’m so sorry echoed in her head. 

She woke up uttering those words. 

She was laying on the forest floor, soaked from the rain. It was beginning to get light. How long had she been asleep?

She sprang up as soon as she remembered where she was. She looked to the cave. The fire was out and the cave was dark. She vaulted over the fallen tree and ran to the cave, tears streaming down her face. She never got to see how Renly had faired. 

Not well.

He laid against the wall of the cave, lifeless. Stab wounds and slit throat. Marilyn collapsed, and stared at him. She didn’t know him for long but he had seemed like such a wise man. She looked over at Shea draped over Lorens dead body. Blood pooled around them. She crawled over to them and took Sheas hand. 

“I’m so sorry…I’m so…” Marilyn trailed off into quiet sobs, but was stopped by a soft cough. Marilyn’s head whipped up to see Sheas chest lightly expanding.

“Shea! Oh my god, I’m so sorry. We need to get you home, let me call someone!” Marilyn went to take her hand away from Shea when Shea gripped it. Marilyn looked to Shea curiously. 

“It’s too late Mar.” Marilyn winced at the nickname. “It’s curtain call for me.”  
Shea coughed again and pushed herself up slightly to look at Loren.

“We were to be married this spring. We joked about how it was never gonna happen, how we were too caught up with this life.” She laid her head next to his, tears falling from her face. “Maybe in the next life. How about that, my love?” She kissed his cheek and rested her head back down. She closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

A knock on the door caused Marilyn to shoot up in bed, clutching her dagger.

Thor opened the door and peeked in. 

“Jesus Christ, it’s just me relax.” Thor put up his hands in surrender. Marilyn sighed and set the dagger back on the nightstand. 

“Sorry, still on edge from yesterday. What time is it?” She got up from her bed and went through the magical storage bag and grabbed her duffel bag of clothes.

“Just shy of eight in the morn. Was checking to see if you were awake, everyone else is. Waiting on you to get some grub, and rehash last night. I think once our bellies are full and that we’re rested will make for better conversation, yeah?” Thor leaned into the doorway, already dressed. 

“I’ll meet you guys in the conference room. Grab me one of everything please. I need… a minute.” She offered a weak smile and turned her attention to her clothes, mindlessly shuffling through her bag, hoping Thor would leave.

“I know that this isn’t any of my business, but if you got something on your mind-“   
“Thank you, Thor, Thank you. I’m fine. Food, please?” Marilyn interjected. She was not in the mood for this. Thor put his hands back up in defeat, and walked out, shutting the door behind him. Marilyn sighed, resting against the wall and sighed some more.

 

Alexis sat on the edge of her bed and stared out the window into the atrium. The rain poured and the thunder roared. She couldn’t believe that this was her life now. Surely she would be rescued, right? Her friends wouldn’t just leave her here and call it good, right? Lost in thought she didn’t even notice someone enter the room until she heard someone clear their throat. 

Alexis jumped and edged up to the window, in fear. A woman about 5’10” stood before her, in a similar outfit like her training uniform, but more girly. She had olive skin and long brown hair. She looked worried.  
“Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you. Alexis, right?” She said. Alexis nodded. “I’m Elena. I’ve been assigned to show you around a little bit more and introduce you to the staff in your wing. And show you where you can go. And so on and so forth.” She smiled and stuck out her hand. 

Alexis stared at her, and then to her hand. She slowly got up from the bed and shook Elena’s hand. 

“If you could change into your uniform quickly, we can get started.” Elena turned and walked to the couch and sat down. Alexis grabbed a new uniform from the dresser and walked into the bathroom. Who was this girl and why was she here? To keep an eye on her? She wasn’t some child that needed mommy to hold her hand. 

“No to be pushy but we have a schedule to follow, don’t want to upset Cass.” Elena spoke. 

Cass? Who was this girl? 

Alexis hurried as per request and stepped out of the bathroom. 

“Great! You look lovely. Let’s go!” Elena linked her arm with Alexis’ and guided them out to the hallway. 

They walked into the lobby that Alexis had passed the first day she was here, and Elena led them up to the reception desk.

“Hey Don, this is Alexis. Cass’…Well I’m not sure what your title is exactly quite yet. So just Alexis.” Elena said as she rested her arms on the counter. 

“Hey there Alexis, nice to meet you. I suppose this is yours now.” He handed a little pass card to Alexis. “That card will give you clearance to everywhere you’re allowed. And it works for your room too. You got free reign now, exciting! Any who, got to get back to work. See you girls around.” He turned back to what he was filing. 

Elena toted Alexis around left and right, introducing her to all sorts of people. Alexis tried to keep track of them all. She needed to remember all that she could for when she got out of this place. 

After what seemed like hours, they finally made it back to Alexis’ room. Alexis went and sat on her bed as Elena shut the door behind them, and made herself a home on the couch. 

“So how was it? Aren’t you excited?” Elena looked at Alexis expectantly. Alexis looked at Elena like she was speaking another language.

“I honestly can’t tell if you’re bullshitting me or not, like really.” Alexis said, no too rudely as she didn’t want to risk getting her new privileges taken away. Elena looked at her quizzically.

“Why would I be bullshitting you?” Elena asked, crossing her arms.

“Hello? Do you even know how I got here, who I am, what I do?” Alexis got up and started pacing the room. Elena studied her.

“You’re Alexis, our new super weapon. I know that we had people tracking your group, and you happen to be who we caught. I know your group was transporting the key, well, half the key. Did I miss anything?” Elena got up and stood in front of Alexis. Alexis gaped at her. 

“Okay, well, if you know all that, what’s with the theatrics?” Alexis threw her hands up. Elena smirked and walked over to the window, peering out. 

“Obviously, this makes you mad that I’m acting like this. Making you mad makes your blood run faster, which makes the serum spread faster. The faster the serum spreads, the sooner we get our revenge. And you’re gonna be on our front line. Get it?” Elena looked over at Alexis, unfazed. Alexis stared at her and tears started streaming. 

She sat on the edge of the bed, and started to cry, burying her head in her pillow. Elena actually kind of felt bad. She looked out the window some more before deciding to try to console Alexis. 

“Hey look, I didn’t mean to make you cry. I can be blunt sometimes.” Elena sat on the bed next to her. Alexis slowly stopped crying. What the fuck was this bitch? Be fake but then turn around and try to comfort her?

“Yeah well I’ve cried over worse things than someone being honest.” Alexis wiped her face and walked into the bathroom to rinse her face with water. Elena watched her. 

“I was actually kinda hoping we could be like friends, or something.” Elena laid down onto the bed. Alexis stared at Elena from the reflection of the bathroom mirror. Elena was playing with the end of her hair.

“Not to be rude, but why would I agree to that?” Alexis said, turning to face her. Elena turned on the bed and rested her head on her hand.

“I mean, you have no friends here. I would hardly count Cass as your friend, but that’s just me.” She maintained eye contact. Alexis rolled her eyes at the mention of ‘Cass’. Alexis slowly walked back into the room and sat in the chair next to her dresser to face Elena. She mulled it over in her head. Hey, as much as she wasn’t really liking the idea of being friends with someone here of all places, it might be good in the long run. 

“Sure, why not. Here’s to new friends.” Alexis send holding up an imaginary glass of champagne toward Elena, putting on the most fakest smile. Elena smirked and sat up, holding up an imaginary glass of champagne as well.

“New friends.” 

They clinked their glasses.


	13. Chapter 13

Elena left not too long after the clinking of metaphorical champagne glasses. Alexis walked over to the window and looked upon the terrarium, as well as the other rooms and windows across the way. Most had their curtains drawn with a faint, warm glow behind them, others were just simply dark. It was about 9PM and Alexis was tired from all the walking around she had done today. She had met so many people. She wondered why they would work for someone like Cassius. What happened to make them turn their back on the Union? The Union was not perfect by any means, and had a lot of work to do for its people, but Cassius and his gang of cold blooded killers and thieves were better?

Movement coming from a window across the way caught Alexis’ eye, pulling her from her thoughts. It was Cassius. Alexis frowned. She watched him walk into a bedroom and pull off his over shirt, tossing it somewhere. His phone must have rang as he pulled it from his pants pocket and answered it. He walked over to the window as he talked, and reached for the string to draw the curtains. He looked out the window directly at Alexis. She froze in place. She didn’t want him to think she was spying on him, but her staring at him from the window wouldn’t help her case. He stared back for a moment and a small smile grew on his face. He winked at her and then the curtains fell. Alexis scowled and turned away, walking into the bathroom, slamming the door, not that Cassius could hear it anyways.  

Alexis started the shower and undressed. She turned towards the mirror above the sink and stared. She had only been here for a couple of days and yet the toll of it all was beginning to show. The dark circles under her eyes had dark circles. Alexis hung her head and sighed. She stepped into the shower to forget it all for a little bit.

 ***

The crew had spent all day at the safe house devising a plan on how to rescue Alexis. They were gathered around the office table and throwing ideas off one another, Marilyn usually being the one to shoot them down.

“Well what if we just try to find the secret hideout and just bust her out?” Zach said, leaning back in his chair. Marilyn rolled her eyes and rubbed her temples.

“We’ve been over this. If we go gallivanting around in areas we aren’t familiar with, they will surely capture us as well and kill us. Any other ideas I can shoot down again?” Marilyn rose from her chair and began to pace. Thor hadn’t moved from his intense stare at the table, and Fitz just kind of looked around the room, unsure of what to say.

“What if we bait them out of hiding and then turn it around on them like an ambush?” Sam offered. Marilyn looked at him, furrowing her eyebrows.

“How in the world do you think that would be a good plan? We are five people. Four of whom are amateurs at fighting. How could we turn it around in our favor?” Marilyn waited for a response as she tapped her foot, clearly irritated at the suggestion. Sam cleared his throat.

“Do we not have back up that we can call in? Can the Queen not send in some extra man power for us?” Sam said, almost like he was begging. “Look, I think we just call that guy Cassius back up and tell him we should just duke it out, show us the true power of whatever he did to Alexis. Then when we all get together, we pretend to be all wimpy and weak, and once they get all cocky, we give them all we got and have our back up jump out of the bushes, or something. That would work, right?” Sam looked at Marilyn expectantly. How could this plan go wrong?

Marilyn gave a light chuckle.

“Even if it were to go as well as you made it sound like, there is no antidote for whatever Cassius did to her. We get her back, cool. But what happens when she goes berserk? I know none of you are ready to have to put down one of your own.” She looked at them all. Sighing. “But if it’s a chance you’re willing to take, I can make some calls. But you all need to talk to one another and hash out the details. I’m not going to be the one to blame when this all goes to hell.” Marilyn walked out of the room to leave the guys to talk it out.

***

Cassius walked into his room, ready to relax for a little bit before going to bed. It had been a long day. He was finalizing some details on an ambush point not too far from here in case any Union patrols looking for Alexis came around. He wanted to make sure that no one found out where they were, not like anyone would anyway. This place was very well hidden amongst the trees and forest. And having a top tier cloaking shield didn’t hurt either.

Everything had been going according to plan, well, almost. He still needed the second half of the key, which Alexis didn’t have. That would have been too easy. But instead, he acquired some bait to lure the key out.

Cassius walked over to his bed and took off his over shirt, tossing it into his hamper, as his phone began to ring. He slid it out of his pocket and began to walk over to window.

“Hello Commander, what can I do for you?” Cassius looked out the window, to find Alexis staring at him from her room. It took him a moment to register, then he gave her a small smile, and a wink, and drew his shades.

“Evening Sir, sorry to bother you so late, I know this is typically your off hours, but I just needed to ask if you were wanting to have some of the men head out tonight to the Rivertown base or leave tomorrow?” The Commanders voice was assertive, yet Cassius could hear him slightly trembling. Everyone was afraid of Cassius, of his hidden power. He did have a dark glow to him, after all, who wouldn’t be afraid of that? His mind wandered to Alexis before replied.

“It’s not a problem Commander, just try to be more prompt next time and ask me earlier in the day. Send them out in a few hours, but I want them gone by sunrise. Is that all?” Cassius walked around his bed and into his bathroom, starting the shower.

“That’s all Sir, thank you. Good night.” The phone went silent. Cassius set his phone down on the counter next to the sink and undressed, hopping into the shower.

After his shower, Cassius towel dried his hair, wrapping the towel around his waist. He walked into the bedroom and went to sit at his desk as there was a knock at his door.

Annoyed, he walked over to the door and looked through the peep hole, and sighed, opening the door.

Elena sauntered in, brushing past Cassius (And almost causing his towel to fall), and sat on the couch. She crossed her arms, then her legs, and looked at him.

“So what’s the plan with the girl? There’s got to be more than what you’ve told me, and I know when you’re lying, so cut the shit.” She said. Cassius just stared at her as he shut the door. He walked over to his desk, and sat down, typing away on his laptop before he spoke.

“I’m not sure what you’re getting at, and frankly I don’t care. I’ve told you the plan countless times, and have even included you in it now. Anything else I can so graciously help you with Queen Pain-In-My-Ass?” He said, clearly annoyed. Elena sighed loudly and walked over to the window. She pushed the curtain out of the way to look at Alexis’ window. She was still up, sitting on her bed, writing in some notebook. Elena let go of the curtain and leaned against the wall, looking at Cassius.

“Whatever. Have it your way. So I’m just supposed to get all cozied up to her, then what?” Elena looked at Cassius as she spoke. Cassius closed his eyes in frustration, and opened them again to look at Elena.

“That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. Now can I please tend to my emails, or do you just want to hang out in my room, asking me a bunch of questions that you already know the answer to, while I am barely clothed?” He leaned back in his chair, looking at her expectantly.

Elena rolled her eyes and walked to the door to leave.

“Fine. Have it your way.” She opened the door and began to walk out before stopping and looking back. “Also it’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before.” She ran out the door and shut it before she could see Cassius’ reaction.

***

Marilyn walked back into the room after a while and sat down. She looked amongst the guys, waiting for them to tell her the plan.

“So we all agreed that what Sam suggested would probably be best. And I’m sure someone back in the city will be able to develop some kind of antidote.” Fitz said. Marilyn looked genuinely surprised.

“Well if we’re all in agreement that this is a bad idea but were gonna do it anyway, let me make some calls. Think of something that we can tell Cassius to lure them out with Alexis.” Marilyn got up from her seat and pulled out her phone, walking toward the window and leaning against it. 

As she began to speak, the guys looked at one another.

“I think Marilyn is right on this one, what happens if there isn’t a cure and she goes full blown psycho?” Thor asked. Everyone looked down and gulped, not wanting to think of what could happen.

“Well we gotta do what we gotta do.” Fitz said. Sam rolled his eyes. Fitz opened his mouth to ask if Sam had a problem when Marilyn clapped her phone shut.

“We have fifteen men. That’s all Alice could spare at the moment. I hope your little plan works.” Marilyn said, frustrated. She knew they were walking into the slaughter house, but she knew these guys were going to do something about whether she was on board or not.

“Since it was a rather short phone call, I know that you guys didn’t get a chance to talk strategy, so what should we do?” Marilyn sat back down, crossing her legs and resting her head on her hand.

“Call him a bitch and see what happens.” Zach said. Marilyn looked unamused while everyone else laughed.

“Honestly, that might work. Have you ever been called a bitch by a dickhead? Makes your head spin.” Thor said a matter of fact.

“Thor you’re a bitch too.” Zach said.

“Calling them dickhead works too, apparently.” Thor said, smug.

“Can we get back on task or is this just a game?” Marilyn said.

“Let’s just call him up and say we’ll give him the key and meet him at that one town, I think it’s called Rivertown, and obviously he knows there’s only a handful of us, so he will just bring a few people. Then when we got them right where we want them, Alice’s guys will jump out and surround them, then we can grab Alexis and run.” Sam said, using some pens on the table to illustrate the plan. Marilyn mulled it over, nodding her head.

“Alright. That might be crazy enough to work. Shall we make a call?” Pulling out her phone and setting it to the video call setting, she redialed the signal that Cassius used to call them a few days ago.

 ***

Cassius was in his office when the call came through. The Commander and Elena were in the office as well, they were in the middle of a meeting.

“Seems our friends are giving us a call. Let’s see what they have to say, shall we?” Cassius turned on his projector screen and hit answer.

“With what do I owe the pleasure?” Cassius said, leaning back in his chair and resting his feet on the desk.  Elena looked from the Commander mouthing “What should we do?”, only to be met with a shrug.

“We want to make an arrangement. Meet us at Rivertown to exchange Alexis for the other half of the key. Just a clean trade. Everyone walks away unharmed.” Marilyn said, cold as ice.

“Why, what a fair trade that sounds like. Everyone wins, except my dear sister. I’m sure she’ll be quite upset that you’re trading the future of this world for one girl. Who will most likely tear you to pieces the moment she lays eyes on you. But if you’re that eager to help me, I suppose we could meet you. How about later today at sunset? Sound good?” Cassius played with pen he had in his hand, not even looking at the screen as he spoke, causing Marilyn to scowl.

“Alright. We have your word? Just a simple trade? Nothing else?” Marilyn asked. Cassius finally looked up, a small smile on his face.

“You have my word, as long as I have yours. See you soon.” He ended the call as he stopped talking, not even giving the group enough time to say anything more. Cassius looked at the Commander and then to Elena.

“Well, seems our plan just got moved up a few days in the calendar. Elena, please go ready Alexis in her fieldwork attire. It’s time we put her to the test. Commander, time to rally the troops.” Cassius rose from his chair with a devious smile.

“Shall we?”

 ***

Alexis was in the cafeteria when Elena spotted her. Alexis was sitting by herself, poking her potatoes with fork, bored. Trying to think of a way out of here was tough work, especially when you couldn’t even get outside without a full escort. Alexis pushed her tray away in frustration when she looked up and saw Elena standing there with a mischievous smile.

“Why do you look like you’re going to tell me something I don’t want to hear?” Alexis said. Elena rolled her eyes and sat down across from her.

“Because I am.” Elena scooted the tray of food down the table and reached over and took Alexis’ hands in hers.

“We’re going on a little field trip later. Get a little fresh air, stretch our legs, maybe take a dip in the river, what’dya say, friendo?” Elena beamed at Alexis. Alexis perked up a bit at the idea of getting out of this place. This was her chance. They probably wouldn’t suspect her to try to bounce the first time not in captivity. Alexis smiled back at Elena.

“Sounds fun enough. Is it just us?” Alexis asked, hopeful.

Patting Alexis’ hand and gesturing for them to get up and leave, Elena replied. “Us, some muscle in case things get dicey, Cassius, and –“

“Cassius is coming?” Alexis gaped at Elena as they walked down the hallway, towards Alexis’ room.

“Yeah of course. Is that a problem?” Elena stopped in front of Alexis’ door, looking at her, hand on hip. Alexis looked at her like she was speaking another language.

“I mean, I’m not his biggest fan, he did kidnap me, inject me with evil serum, and plans on using me as a super weapon to kill all my friends and citizens of Nion, and probably the Queen. Did I miss anything?” Alexis pushed past Elena. Again, what was her problem? Why did everyone here think this was normal, to want to take down Nion and the Queen? Someone better let Alexis in on the joke because this was starting to get old.

On Alexis’ bed was a new cat suit looking outfit. Picking it up and holding it to the light, it wasn’t half bad looking.

“I’m assuming I’m supposed to wear this out? I guess we’ll mark swimming off of our little field trip to do list.” Alexis walked into the bathroom to change, shutting the door behind her.

Elena plopped down on the couch in a huff. Playing babysitter was getting very tiring. She could just call it quits and just let Alexis run rampant throughout headquarters, but she knew Cassius would have her head if she did that. Elena had only ever seen Cassius lose his cool once before, and it was something she would never forget. Before she could get too deep in the flashback, Alexis walked out of the bathroom all suited up.

“For a cat suit, this actually moves pretty well. I don’t feel constricted at all.” Alexis did some kicks and punches to the air to demonstrate to Elena her agility in the suit, causing Elena to giggle.

“It’s about that time. Put on your shoes and let’s head out.”

 ***

Even though Alexis had been cooped up for a few days, being outside in the forest again felt magical. They had boarded a helicopter which took them a few miles south of Rivertown, from there they had to walk. There was about five of them on the helicopter who were making the trek. Alexis, Elena, Cassius, and two guys she vaguely recognized. Alexis made sure to size up the two guys a bit. She needed to know what she was up against hen she made her escape. One was about 6’2”, built like an absolute unit. Maybe he was slow, Alexis could outrun him, but not by much. The other was probably 5’10”, with an athletic build. Now she definitely could take him, if it was one on one. But she knew that that wasn’t the case. Alexis let out a sigh. How was she ever going to get home?

Alexis had been walking by herself during the trek. One solider at the front, one in the back. Cassius and Elena and been walking next to each other, and from what it sounded like, they were bickering. Alexis tried to listen in, but then Cassius looked back and noticed Alexis following a little too close. He said one last thing to Elena, and then slowed his speed so he could walk next to Alexis. She crossed her arms and looked at the greenery around her, hoping he would get the message and fuck off.

“Nice day, isn’t it? Good day for a stroll amongst friends.” He said, putting his hands in his pockets. Alexis whipped her head to look at him.

“Friends?! Who in the world are you calling a friend?” Alexis stopped in her tracks, almost causing the solider behind her to bump into her. Cassius stopped as well, motioning for the soldiers and Elena to move on ahead. The rest looked skeptical, but obeyed.

Oh now I’ve done it, Alexis thought. Cassius began to circle Alexis, hands still in his pocket. Alexis began to slowly back away. Maybe now this was her chance? The sun was going to set soon, it would be pitch dark in an hour. She could make her escape and be free. Alexis’ heart fluttered at the thought of seeing her friends again. Seeing her home again. Cassius resting his hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality.

“You do space out often, don’t you? But let’s get back to what’s at hand.” He removed his hand from her shoulder and closed the space between them.

“There’s no need for you to reject everything I try to do for you. I’ve given you the greatest gift of all, the least you could do is allow me to be your friend, no?” His blue eyes bore into Alexis’. Alexis refused to break the power struggle going on between them. The world seemed to slow a bit. Was it the serum that caused her to smack him stark across the face, or was it the real Alexis that did it? Who’s to say?

The smack must have radiated throughout the forest as the soldiers and Elena came rushing to them. The soldiers held their guns up at Alexis. Cassius merely looked to the side, clearly stunned at what had just transpired. He finally looked at Alexis, smiling.

“I hope you’re as sharp like that in battle.” He said. He rubbed his cheek a little bit before turning on his heel and continued on walking, motioning for the soldiers to lower their weapons and to continue onward. Alexis stared in disbelief. She just smacked the shit out of him, and he just smiled and walked away? Who the fuck was this guy?

Elena waited for Alexis to catch up and started to match their strides.

“What the fuck was that?” Elena asked, not in a mean way, but out of pure curiosity.

“I’m not sure what came over me. He was just pissing me off so much and I wanted him to just shut the fuck up, and I guess that was the way my body wanted to handle it?” Alexis said, hugging herself as it began to get cooler. Elena just nodded as they walked.

They walked for about thirty more minutes before they started seeing the roofs of houses. It was a small town. No more than 100 people there. The city was so far out in the middle of nowhere, and so disconnected from the rest of the world, they didn’t even have paved roads or hover cars. Just dirt roads and carriages.

“Did we just get transported to the old days or what?” Alexis said under her breath, as she looked around at the buildings. They even had a water mill to power the town’s electricity.

“Yeah no kidding.” Elena replied, equally as confused.

They reached the town’s center, a little field of grass, with a gazebo in the middle. It was cute. Maybe if Alexis got out of this, she could come here again and take a little vacation.

As they reached the center of the gazebo, that’s when Alexis saw them.

Her friends.

 


End file.
